Rebel
by catchingafallingstar
Summary: (Now revised with help from mab70) Harry doesn't want to go to Hogwarts. Albus insists. Let's see they fight!
1. A rebel bothers many people, a

**Chapter 1 - A rebel bothers many people, a school of rebels bother much more.**

 **A/N:** Many thanks to mab70 for beta-reading this chapter and helping correcting my many mistakes! We will work together so the next chapters could be a better experience to you, readers.

 _ **July 30, 1991 - #4 Privet Drive, soon after midnight**_

"Mister Hagrid, you didn't need to come here and destroy our door. We received the Hogwarts letter. By the way, we received hundreds of them. I don't know why they insisted on sending so many. Knowing that I live with normal people in a normal neighbourhood, this quantity of owls around our house was very suspicious" explained the boy with a lightning bolt scar. "Thank you for your visit, but I have no intention on studying at Hogwarts. I couldn't answer before because you don't make it easy for non-magical people. No phone number, normal mail address, nor even a mailbox. I don't have an owl and none of those who came with a letter remained enough so that I could send my answer."

Hagrid couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not wanting to go to Hogwarts? Hogwarts was his life, he simply couldn't imagine anybody, and the last of the Potters in particular, would refuse the opportunity, so he tried again.

"But… Harry… you're a wizard! A famous wizard in our world! Surely you must go to Hogwarts. Your parents…"

"My parents died when I was too young to remember. I have no memories of them. All that I know is what my auntie could tell me and what I found in my mother's diaries. Do you know she spent her time at Hogwarts being mistreated just because she had normal parents? Do you know how many times she wished to abandon everything and come back to the normal world? I don't want any contact with such prejudiced and snobby people! I already have my future planned and I can assure you it doesn't involve any contact with this society of yours!" said the boy vehemently.

Harry then took a letter addressed to Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, which he had tried to send unsuccessfully before, and gave it to the enormous man in front of him.

"Here is my answer, mister Hagrid. I'm sorry you had come from so far unnecessarily. I hope you can find a simpler way for normal people like me to contact you in the future."

 _ **July, 30, 1991, Hogwarts' Great Hall, lunch time**_

"Are you sure you really don't want me to visit young Mr Potter, Albus?" asked Minerva of her employer.

"Don't worry, Minerva. I will personally take care of this matter. Please, register Mr Potter's presence as confirmed for the next year" answered the headmaster.

 _ **September 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **, 1991, Hogwarts' Great Hall, evening**_

Minerva finished her participation in the sorting ceremony for the new students, watching Mr Zabini walking to Slytherin's table. She had omitted one name in her list at Dumbledore's request. She then looked at him, seeking instructions about what to do now, and he simply pointed to her chair at his side, inviting her to sit while he stood up to address the students.

"We have one last student to be sorted today. It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you… Harry Potter" he said while waving his wand to open a door beside the staff table, making a young boy with messy black hair to float to the stool where he was seated with the hat over his head.

'Well, where is the mind of this boy?' Harry heard in his head.

Not receiving any answer from the boy, the hat decided to try a little trick to obtain some kind of reaction that could help him sort the boy.

'You know, Albus is not happy with your behaviour, refusing to come to Hogwarts and all that. You must be very courageous to defy him so openly. That kind of courage would be typical of a Gryffindor.'

The hat waited for any reaction from the boy, but found none, so he tried again.

'It is not easy for someone as young as you are to hide his mind from me. And living with muggles, without contact with the magical world? Amazing! You must be a young genius to learn that by yourself. In this case Ravenclaw would be the perfect place to put you, they value knowledge above all else, you know?'

Again the hat waited, and again no response came from the boy.

'Well, you are very cunning, boy. Such determination and will to prove your value would surely grant you a place in Slytherin. It is the ideal house for people who are ambitious and able to persevere to obtain what they want.'

After another unsuccessfully waiting, with students and staff anxiously anticipating the result of the sorting and curious about the delay, the hat decided to do the choice itself.

'Well, I'll have to choose myself between one of these three houses. There is no way to put someone like you in Hufflepuff.'

'Where?' asked the boy, making contact for the first time with the hat.

'Hufflepuff' repeated the hat, happy to finally obtain an answer.

'Where?' asked the boy again. 'Speak out loud, I can't hear you.'

"Hufflepuff!" almost screamed the hat and the boy, before the hat realized what happened, stood up, put the hat on the stool and ran to the designated house table, to the surprise of everybody, while thinking 'Oh, I'll have lot of surprises for them, they'll see. If I can help myself, I will never do what they expected!'

Sitting down, the boy looked to the staff table and was happy to see the stupefied look on their faces and especially the irate expression of the headmaster. 'Good', he thought, 'Let's see how much this old goat can take before expelling me. He will learn one way or another to respect people and never kidnap someone again.'

 _ **September, 2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **, 1991, Hogwarts, morning**_

"Wow, I can't believe it is so long since Hufflepuff won the House Cup!" exclaimed Harry to his new friends.

"Yes" answered the little redhead in front of him. "But maybe with you in the house we can change it this year."

"Oh, don't count on this. I'm here against my will and I'll do whatever was necessary so they send me back home. It is better you don't waste your time trying to win points because I'll probably lose them very fast."

"What do you mean, against your will?" asked an older student down the table.

"It is simple. I had plans to go to another school, so I refused Hogwarts' invitation. Your headmaster, that old goat over there, who smiles like Santa but behaves like a dictator, solved the problem by kidnaping me and bringing me here by force."

That shocked everybody around, but there was no more time for talking. The first class of the year was to start and everybody quickly withdrew. Well, everybody except Harry, who slowly finished his breakfast and then went to the library to see what he could find of interest there.

It was in the library that professor McGonagall found him more than an hour later.

"Mister Potter, you are not in class!"

"Madam McGonagall," answered the boy in the same style, "you are correct!"

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff for missing class, plus another ten for your disrespectful answer, and detention tonight with me. Now, follow me!"

"No" replied calmly the boy, making his teacher even angrier.

"What? What you mean, boy? It is an order!" she responded.

"I like it here, and I'm learning more than in class. Anyway, you already took points for my absence, so there is no motive for me to follow you to class as I have already paid for not being there."

"I have not given you license to treat me informally, and I expect obedience when I give you orders, Mr Potter. Twenty more points from Hufflepuff and another detention!"

"Don't wait me at the detentions, professor, I'll not be there" assured the boy, smiling mischievously.

"Do you know you can be expelled if you miss a detention, Mr Potter?" asked Minerva.

"Oh, please, do it now, professor, please?" begged the boy making his best lost-pup face.

Minerva was gobsmacked. Did the boy really want to be expelled? Strange! And how had Albus convinced him to come to Hogwarts? Something was wrong here and she decided it was time for Dumbledore to offer some answers before she acted too hastily and caused irreparable damage. Angry and confused, she turned and walked fast to the headmaster's office, leaving the boy free to return to his books.

 _ **Soon after, headmaster's office**_

"YOU WHAT?" screamed Minerva after hearing the way Dumbledore had dealt with the boy, bringing him to Hogwarts against his will.

"There was no other option, Minerva. I tried by all means to persuade the boy to come, but he was immovable. Harry Potter is too important in our world; we simply can't allow him to be elsewhere."

"But, Albus, he will try to scape…"

"He tried three times during the night. Don't worry, he is being monitored and will be captured whenever he leaves the castle without permission."

"He will do everything to be expelled! By the way, he has already started."

"And we will not expel him. Don't worry; I have a plan to force him to attend classes that I will implement starting tomorrow morning. Let him have today to explore the castle. This rebellion is temporary, Minerva. Soon he will see his friends doing magic, and he will want to learn too. There is no way a child so young and curious could avoid being interested in magic. And maybe it was for the Greater Good that he was sorted into Hufflepuff. Soon he will have friends who will help us to persuade him to participate in our world."

"I don't know, Albus, I really don't know. I hope you're right, but I think that Mr Potter could well be more stubborn than us. And if this rebellion spreads to others?"

"Harry is just a spoiled child who needs correction. We will educate him. Please, call a staff meeting for after dinner. I need to guide them on how to proceed with the boy."

 _ **September 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 1991, Great Hall, morning**_

"How strange!" exclaimed Susan Bones to Harry after she received a letter. "Auntie Amelia answered my letter from yesterday. She answered everything I asked except about you being here against your will. She is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; surely she would be interested about your case, Harry."

"Maybe your letter was censored" commented Sally-Anne at her side.

"How can we warn her if they are monitoring our mail?" asked Hannah Abbott.

"It seems I won't have external help" answered Harry. "But don't worry; I'm happy with your support."

"It is the least we can do" said Ernie McMillan. "Kidnap is a crime. You should not be here against your will."

"Will you attend any class today, Harry?" asked Megan Jones.

"Not if I can avoid it. See you at lunch" answered the green-eyed boy seeing his friends leaving.

Harry was happy with his choice for Hogwarts' House and didn't understand why Hufflepuff was bad-mouthed by the others. As soon as he explained his situation the whole house was supporting him. That was a very united and cooperative group of people, with a strong sense of justice and solidarity. All they need to shine is a good leader and, if Harry couldn't go back home soon, he was willing to be that leader.

However his thoughts in that direction were interrupted by the arrival of the headmaster.

"Harry, my boy, please follow me to your classroom."

"No, thank you" answered the boy preparing himself for a long debate.

"Sorry, my boy, but you don't have another option" answered Dumbledore while using his wand to bond and float the boy. "Your rebellious behaviour is no longer acceptable. I know that my actions could be interpreted as a little drastic, but in the future you'll understand and will thank me."

"If you think I'll ever thank someone for the crimes of trespassing, kidnapping and false imprisonment you're more senile than I thought possible" answered Harry sarcastically. "Will you also torture me?"

"No! Not directly for sure, but if you insist with this unacceptable behaviour maybe I would need to take some unpleasant measures" answered the headmaster. "I hope you'll not force me to that point, Harry. Hogwarts is the best school of magic in the world. You can learn a lot here. Ah, here we are!"

And that was the start of an unpleasant routine for Harry, with Dumbledore floating the boy to each classroom, silencing him and jinxing him so that he couldn't leave his seat. In his free periods he was restricted to the library, with a ward inhibiting his departure without Dumbledore's permission. There was no way to force the boy to pay attention to the classes or to do his homework except for a _Imperius_ , but Albus hoped that he eventually would be convinced to cooperate, at least to avoid boredom.

 _ **September 5, 1991, Potions lab, morning**_

A flaw in Albus' plan was to underestimate the hostility of his potions master against the Potters. Severus Snape didn't believe that a first-year would be capable of causing him any problems, and he was eager for an opportunity to chasten the boy if he tried. So, as soon as Albus left the laboratory, Snape cancelled the charms on the boy and started to attack the 'new celebrity'.

By some last minute change, Hufflepuff had the unpleasant company of the Slytherins to share the class. That the Slytherins consider the Puffs to be fools and losers was stated since day one. The worst was the teacher's behaviour. Instead of putting a stop to the mockery, he encouraged and participated in the scorn.

Harry remained silent and calm at all the provocations Snape and the Slytherins did to him; he was silent but not so calm when the provocations targeted his parents; and finally silent but furious when they attacked his new friends in Hufflepuff.

When Snape positioned himself right in front of Harry, looking down on him with a sarcastic smile, Harry started searching for what he could do against that abomination who gave a bad reputation to the title of 'professor'. Unfortunately the malevolent giant bat had his wand in hand, and could react fast if the boy tried anything, unless if…

"Oh, that is a difficult question, Mr Malfoy" said the teacher while turning to face the androgynous snob who seemed to be a favourite of the greasy vampire of the dungeons. "If whether Potter's idiocy results from bad genetics or the influence of the filthy muggles he lives with is a question that…. AHHHHHH!"

The boy had reached his limit, and took his chance when the teacher had his back turned to him, and his wand arm over Harry's table. Taking his knife from his potion kit, the boy put all his strength and weight in a downward blow on the teacher's forearm. The knife passed between the two bones in the forearm of that monstrosity before sinking two inches inside the wood of the table top, fixing the man's forearm there.

Using the screaming and panic to his advantage, the boy broke Snape's wand and quickly ran away from the class. If a direct attack to a teacher wouldn't grant his expulsion, nothing more would. But Harry didn't trust the old goat to do what is right, and his only assurance was that the game would escalate to a new level.

 _ **September 5, 1991, headmaster's office, early afternoon**_

"Ah, my boy, it is a great disappointment to see someone give in to the temptation of violence!" started Dumbledore.

"Indeed, headmaster, it was really sad to see an adult abusing unprotected children" the boy answered simulating the same sad look of the old man.

"Harry, I'm talking about you and not the professor."

"Albus, I'm talking about that aberration you call a teacher and not about me."

"Mister Potter!" intervened an angry McGonagall. "You will treat the headmaster with due respect!"

"Headmaster!" retorted the boy in the same tone. "You will treat Mr Potter with due respect!"

Both adults exchanged a concerned look and sighed discouraged. Some rebellion was expected, as the boy was brought to Hogwarts against his will, but a direct attack against a teacher? It was more than three centuries since that last happened, and the student was immediately expelled. But expulsion was exactly what the boy wanted, and what Albus could never grant.

"Harry, violence is a wicked path that only leads to more violence and the dark side of Magic. We would need to take drastic measures to avoid this path…" tried again the headmaster.

"So we would dismiss the greasy abuser? The kind of provocations he did… tsk, tsk… it is really a shame" said the boy.

"Harry, I talked to several students that were present to the scene and they confirmed that your attack was totally…" started again the old man.

"How many of them were not from Slytherin?" interrupted Harry.

"That is not the point, Harry. What matters is that…" tried the headmaster once more.

"That you're a bigoted old goat who does not want to know the truth because it doesn't serve you!" concluded the boy with vehemence before he closed his eyes, put fingers in his ears and started humming aloud, refusing to cooperate anymore.

 _ **September 5, 1991, Great Hall, dinner**_

If his situation as victim of a kidnap won the sympathy of his peers in Hufflepuff, now his attack on Snape gained him allies in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, as the exuberant applause he received when entering the Great Hall for dinner proved.

Dumbledore was ready to stand up and reprimand the students for their exulting with a violent action when McGonagall stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a single comment: "Albus, do you really want to have all the school against you at this moment?"

 _ **September 6, 1991, Great Hall, morning**_

To the great consternation of most of the students, Severus Snape was back for the next breakfast, after regenerating the nerves in his arm. Dumbledore was at the edge of his patience with the angry professor who wanted a chance to severely punish the boy before expelling him from school. For security reasons the boy would not be forced to attend Potions classes and Severus, highly vexed, had agreed to stay away from Harry.

But Dumbledore's problems didn't stop there. His teachers had already left for their morning classes but most of the students, notwithstanding being warned two times, were still seated at their tables in the Great Hall, with no intention of going to classes. What surprised the headmaster the most was that even some Slytherin students were present, but he believed they were there not to help Harry Potter but to see him expelled after the attack no their Head of House. Anyway, that was of no importance. The important point was that, for the first time in the history of the ancient institution, Hogwarts was suffering its first general students' rebellion, and Albus didn't know what to do.

 _ **September 6, 1991, Great Hall, lunch**_

Dumbledore came running to the Great Hall and felt relieved seeing Quirinus calmly starting his lunch. 'Good, it wasn't him' he thought while recovering his breath. 'But then, where is the stone? And who took it?'

The worst was that, except for the door in the third floor, which leads to the first protection, the Cerberus Hagrid christened Fluffy, there was no sign of the presence of anybody in the other parts of the track to the stone. If he hadn't enough on his hands with the rebellion led by young Harry, now the stone was missing! For a moment Dumbledore felt all the weight of his advanced age on his shoulders, and considered if it wasn't time to retire. Pity there wasn't anybody able to assume the responsibility for the future of magical society.

 _ **September 7, 1991, Great Hall, morning**_

After a whole day with no classes due to the students' rebellion, Albus was happy for the weekend. That would give him two days to think about how to act.

As a punishment to the rebellious students the headmaster sealed the doors of the Great Hall so that they would pass all the day in that confined space, except for the inevitable visits to the restroom. If Dumbledore had hoped the boredom of nothing to do would weaken the determination of the children, he found himself seriously disappointed.

What was seen during all day was the greatest inter-house party in Hogwarts' history, having the Hufflepuff table as its centre and the boy-who-lived as its leader. Even part of the elitists' students of Slytherin participated in the adventure, although they kept their distance from most of the Gryffindors. Albus saw with concern some of the friendships Harry was making, and even thought to force the students to remain at their own tables as additional punishment, but after Severus was twice ignored while demanding exactly that, even enforcing his commands with the deduction of hundreds of points from the other three houses and threats of detentions, the headmaster thought it was for the best to save his yet denigrated image from more damage instead of fighting a battle he didn't hope to win.

But the renowned headmaster of Hogwarts was worried with the range and calibre of the friendships young Harry was making. To the niece of Amelia Bones, the powerful Head of DMLE, and the son of the wealthy muggle banker Finch-Fletchey, he was now adding the mischievous and resourceful Weasley twins, the too smart for her own good Hermione Granger, the heiresses of the powerful families Greengrass and Moon, the quiet but worrisome Zabini, members of important foreign families like the Chang, Roskhov, Patil, Mounier, Zabaretto, Li and Gutierrez. The boy-who-lived was showing to be too lively and sociable for the headmaster that had been dreaming of a shy and downtrodden Gryffindor boy looking at him as a mentor and protector.

Only the half of Slytherin table closer to the staff table remained apart from the intermixing of students, looking at the others with disdain, if not open rage. They deemed that improper behaviour and would never be caught in the company of what they considered the mob of Hogwarts. But they were few, and their opinion was heard and respected only between themselves.

Dumbledore's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden and unexpected arrival of Madam Amelia Bones with some aurors. As she started walking to the far end of Slytherin's table, where her niece was now sitting beside Harry Potter, Albus stood up immediately and put himself in her path, trying to discover what she was doing here.

"Amelia, what a pleasantly surprise! What can I do for you? Would you like to follow me to my office?" he asked the serious woman.

"No, Albus, I'm here to see my niece…" she started to answer but, seeing her niece pointing frenetically to a boy at her side, she completed "…and a friend of hers."

There was no need to ask who this friend of Susan was. Albus was thinking fast, trying to decide the best course of action. He could use his magical guardianship over the boy to forbid him to follow Amelia but, besides disrespectful, this attitude would be suspicious and could dispose Amelia against him. He didn't know what she would discuss with her niece, and he decided it was best if he could use the boy to participate in the meeting, so he could defuse any dangerous situation before it exploded on him. His decision made, he called the two children and guided them and Amelia to his office. Amelia tried to avoid his presence but he played his card of 'interested guardian' to include himself in the meeting. As soon as they were seated she started the talk.

"Susan, why I didn't received a letter from you these last three days? You promised to write daily for the first couple of weeks."

"I needed to bring you here to talk to you in person, auntie, as the headmaster is censoring our mail" Susan answered with an angry look towards the headmaster.

"Albus?" inquired Amelia, also looking angry.

"We only censored information regarding Harry Potter. As his guardian…"

"You mean kidnapper, don't you?" interfered the boy.

The talk continued tensely for several minutes, while Amelia was slowly discovering that the boy-who-lived didn't want to be at Hogwarts but was forced by Albus to stay. She also discovered the rebellion the boy had started against what he considered as crimes perpetrated by the headmaster. Amelia sympathized with the boy's pledge, and was proud of the way her niece had helped him and found a way to bring her here, but the law was clear.

"Harry," she told the boy, "unfortunately, as your legal guardian, Dumbledore has the right to determine what education you must receive and where you must live, and there is nothing I can do about it if he doesn't break the law."

The boy thought for some time before he asked: "What happens if our esteemed headmaster suffers an accident and dies? Can I go home then?"

His question shocked the three other people in the office. Albus was agape, and started in his best grandfatherly way: "Harry, you can be serious about…"

But was once more interrupted by the boy with a cynical: "Wanna bet?"

 _ **September 7, 1991, headmaster's office, afternoon**_

Amelia really couldn't interfere in the specific situation in which Harry Potter was, but all the students of the school confined in the Great Hall and without classes? She was sure that Fudge would like to know about it so she was fast in warning him.

Dumbledore stood up slowly, with pain in his knees after his forty minutes talking with the Minister of Magic in the floo, even with him conjuring a pillow to attenuate the effects. The content of the talk was as unpleasant as the position it obliged him into. In short, Hogwarts must be functioning normally by Monday or it would have a new headmaster the following day.

Harry Potter was the leader of the riot, and not staying at Hogwarts his main claim. Those were the two points on which base a plan.

 _ **September 7, 1991 – Great Hall at night**_

"Attention! Your attention, please!" exclaimed Dumbledore before the start of dinner.

"Although vexed, I decided to give in to the pressure you students exercised in favour of one of your companions. Even being unpleased with the result, and considering that some excesses were committed by you, I'm proud of seeing you forgetting for a moment your personal and house antagonisms in favour of a common cause."

"Harry Potter is no longer a student at Hogwarts! As you can see, he already is gone from us, and you'll no longer see him floated from class to class. Tomorrow we return to our normal activities but, for now… help yourselves to another wonderful meal!"

The headmaster listened to the students' celebration with a smile on his lips, and contemplated with happiness how the absence of a charismatic leader was helping to return things to their proper place. Slowly the students, mixed between the four house tables, going back to their own tables. Meanwhile, the teachers were congratulating him for solving another crisis, and nobody suspected that Harry Potter was not back home but confined to rooms in an underused wing of the fifth floor.

 _ **September 8, 1991 – Headmaster's office, morning**_

If Albus Dumbledore expected a calm and relaxing Sunday, with his school back to normality, he was serious disappointed.

His ideal world was broken as soon as mail was delivered. The Daily Prophet was publishing, with a headline on the front page, an open letter from Harry Potter telling, in a very unfavourable viewpoint, all of his experiences in the magical world and with the Hogwarts' headmaster in particular.

Furthermore, although the rebel student had refused to participate in classes, he certainly took note of what was happening around him and to the complaining of the other students, and included in his letter very harsh criticisms against the curriculum, disciplines and teachers of Hogwarts.

The petulance of that brat, attacking and condemning centuries-old traditions and pointing to defects and flaws in the school that Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin First Class, Hogwarts' Headmaster, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, had administered for decades! And with rational and well-grounded arguments, no less!

As soon the children started to read the article, they also started mixing in little groups to conspire, ending with the creation of a committee with a prefect from each house plus the head couple demanding a meeting with him. And they wanted to know about a plan to implement the changes the boy-who-lived prescribed, threatening immediate strike until the plan was approved! And Fudge's deadline was still running!

 _ **September 08, 1991 – Bones' residence, morning**_

Amelia finished reading the Daily Prophet with a roguish smile on her lips. The great Albus Dumbledore apparently found a rival to his stature! And in the figure of a child only eleven years old, no less! Fantastic!

The main point was that the boy never got close enough of her to put a letter to be followed to the Daily Prophet in her pocket. Had he convinced Susan to do so? That seems the most probably answer, but that was a bit worrying. The boy was smart, even too smart for his own good, and her niece was a naïve girl with a record as a hard-core fan of the boy-who-lived. Amelia would need to keep a close eye on their relationship to protect her niece from a broken heart due to some future deception. Maybe a new visit to Hogwarts must be done soon. Amelia must give some advice to her niece, perhaps even a special 'Talk'.

 _ **September 8, 1991 – Edge of the Forbidden Forest, early afternoon**_

Rita Skeeter was on cloud nine, so happy she could burst. She had made a risky bet… and won! It had cost her a favour from an Unspeakable, something hard to obtain, but the profits more than compensated for the price. She could contact and make a deal with the boy-who-lived, currently the greatest source of news in the British magical world!

Everything started with a letter from the boy reaching the head-office of the Daily Prophet, with a drop of blood and a hair to establish its authenticity. Rita soon realized the great opportunity that dropped into her lap. Two of the most famous and important personalities of the magical world were measuring forces, and she would like to know, and to publish, every step of that fight.

Nobody saw her taking the boy-who-lived's hair, with which the Unspeakable she knew some secrets about could localize the exactly position of the boy inside the tri-dimensional maze that was Hogwarts.

Dismissing her reluctant sidekick, Rita flew as a beetle up to the window of the room where Harry Potter was, and spoke with him. It was a hard negotiation; she expected to find a scared and naïve boy, thirsty for the chance to tell his side of the story. She found a calm and rational young man, in perfect control of his emotions and the situation.

Nevertheless, the agreement was advantageous. The boy would give her daily reports about the events inside the school, in the form of questions and answers that Rita would published as exclusive interviews. She had to promise to make no additions or modifications to the text, a limitation that she definitely didn't like to do, but the boy was immovable on that point. It was that or nothing. As that was so much better than nothing, she was forced to agree.

 _ **September 9, 1991 – Great Hall, morning**_

Dumbledore couldn't believe what was happening. He always had such strong ability in controlling the sheep with half-truths and vague promises! But the students received his little speech about possible future changes in Hogwarts with an initial disdain that soon turned into boos and protests, finishing with the students deciding for on a general strike.

If the situation was already ugly on his side, Rita Skeeter's interview with Harry Potter in the Daily Prophet revealing that the boy was still confined to Hogwarts was the trigger for the revolt. Some of the students now marched to the fifth floor to free the boy, while another party created interference to detain the teachers in the Great Hall. Were these students unable to understand that they were going against the Greater General Good?

Meanwhile, Harry Potter enjoyed his newly acquired friendship with the Hogwarts elves. He'd only found out about the existence of these interesting little creatures on his first day at Hogwarts, when one of them appeared at Susan's request to change the beds. The boy immediately realized the importance of turning into allies these beings capable of doing magic without wands; to jump from one place to another of the castle without worrying about banalities like walls, closed doors and magical protections; and a myriad of other awesome magic tricks.

The elves were very friendly, and felt sorry for the boy locked up alone; taking turns keeping him company and answering all his questions about the magical world and the elves themselves. It was so unusual for a wizard to give them attention that the elves were very happy to help him in all they could.

However, that morning his lesson on elven magic was interrupted by the sudden appearance of several other elves in great agitation.

"Master Harry Potter, sir, Hogwarts needs a hero and the old headmaster has ordered not to be pestered. Hogwarts needs a hero now!" said one.

"Master Harry Potter, you need a hero's outfit," said another as he snapped his fingers, covering the boy with armour like the ones that adorned the statues in the corridors of the castle.

"Master Harry Potter, sir, you need a shield to protect yourself," said the third, and a shield appeared attached to his left arm.

"Master Harry Potter, sir, you need a weapon to kill a giant beast," said another still, and a richly ornate sword, bearing the name 'Godric Gryffindor' engraved on the blade, appeared in his right hand.

"Master Harry Potter, you must now save damsels in danger," concluded another elf, and the confused boy disappeared from his quarters reappearing at the end of a corridor, ahead of a group of first-year girls who included his friends Susan and Daphne. In front of him, an adult mountain troll, four metres tall with a mighty, stinking mass of muscles, was slowly advancing toward him with a wooden club larger than the boy's leg in his hands.

Taken by surprise, the boy decided to act his part, bellowed, and rushed toward the beast, trying to hit it with a swipe of his sword. It was ugly! The sword was so heavy he let it go before he got close enough, but still the troll did not go unscathed. Though the sword had missed the monster's breast, its tip fell on the beast's toe, severing it. As the troll howled, Harry quickly disengaged himself from the shield and most of the armour, which only hindered him.

Lighter and loose, Harry looked back at the troll and had an idea. He ran to the beast, and taking advantage of the fact that one of the troll's legs was flexed, he jumped onto its thigh and with both hands pushed the sword through the beast's open mouth from below. The sword pierced the roof of the troll's mouth and entered its brain, killing him.

No sooner had the great troll plummeted to the ground, and his elven friends reappeared.

"Master Harry Potter, sir, you have beat the giant troll and saved the maidens!" exclaimed one.

"Master Harry Potter, you must now beat evil wizard too!" shouted another.

"Come on, Master Harry Potter, sir, you're late!" said the third who snapped his fingers, making the boy disappear from the hallway and into a room where three elements stood out: a harp playing alone, a huge three-headed dog, and the stuttering Professor Quirrell.

"Harry Potter! You will not stop me this time! I'll kill you once and for all," snarled the no-longer-stuttering professor before shooting a spell in his direction.

Harry ducked to avoid the spell that ended up destroying the harp. The boy noticed the amazement in the teacher's eyes, which looked startled at the dog, who immediately showed signs of awakening.

The boy noticed his position, behind the huge dog, and the teacher's, directly in front of the beast's central head, and acted on impulse again, delivering a powerful kick to the infernal dog's butt.

The dog awoke suddenly and, seeing the adult directly ahead, attacked him at once. Meanwhile, the boy closed his eyes to not see the carnage, thinking 'I'll be the dessert!'

Fortunately, his elven friends, satisfied with his performance, took him away before the beast could finish the main course.


	2. A dispute between many factions

**CHAPTER 2 - A dispute between many factions**

 **A/N:** A special thank you for mab70 who helped me correcting my many mistakes in this text.

 **September 9, 1991, rooms on the fifth floor of Hogwarts, early afternoon**

Finally Albus, with the help of Snape, had been able to recapture the little fugitive and bring him back to his quarters. What he didn't know was what Harry did while out of his quarters, including the adventures with the Cerberus and the Troll.

Another thing Dumbledore didn't know (and how many things he didn't know recently!) was that the other teachers were desperate looking for him, to deal with a dead troll and teacher, and a Cerberus making a loud noise in its cell on the third floor. But he was already under enormous pressure! The time given by the minister to regain control of the school was ending, and the school was far from normal. If the minister arrived now, Albus would certainly be unemployed before the end of the day.

And there was the youth responsible for all his problems, again refusing to cooperate! The headmaster still didn't know how he had managed to get out of his quarters, since even senior students wouldn't be able to circumvent the wards he had put on the doorway of those rooms. He also didn't know how the boy was sending information out of the castle. So pressed was he for quick results that, at a new covert look from his potions teacher, Albus finally relented and nodded to the angry teacher, giving Snape his assent for use of legilimency on the boy, leaving teacher and student alone in the bedroom to wait for them in the small living room. It wasn't very safe to leave those two alone, but Albus hated lying and, if he didn't see what happened, he would have the chance to swear he knew nothing without incurring a perjury charge.

With a wicked grin, Snape approached the boy and, getting his attention, immediately launched himself into the attack.

Nothing went as planned.

The Hogwarts house elves owed obedience to the headmaster, but the teachers were not on the same level. And a teacher attacking a helpless student was something they couldn't abide. And this student being a special friend of the elves and a great hero, his day's accomplishments amassing to his already great fame as the Boy-who-lived, Snape had no chance of success.

His attack was reflected back by the house elves, and it was Harry who found himself scouring the teacher's mind, not the other way around. And what Harry found shocked him greatly: the greasy man was a marked Death Eater, with an unhealthy passion for the boy's mother and an exacerbated hatred against his father, but the worst part was the role he played in bringing Voldemort's attention to the Potters, and because of a prophecy he didn't even hear in its entirety!

But before Harry could think of how to take revenge on that spoiled little boy who had become a teacher, Dumbledore returned and, gobsmacked by the spectacle he encountered stunned the boy and promptly led his friend to the infirmary. The image of little Harry sitting on his bed staring at Severus, slumped against the bedroom wall and bleeding from his nose, mouth, eyes and ears, shook the headmaster deeply. He didn't notice the invisible presence of the house elves in the room, assigning to the boy the feat of having defeated an adult wizard of great skill by himself. The hatred he saw in the boy's eyes was worrying. Was there a new dark lord in training? And what strange powers would he have?

 **September, 9, 1991, Hogwarts Medical Ward, mid-afternoon**

"Ah, Dumbledore! Finally!" exclaimed Cornelius Fudge as he watched the Hogwarts headmaster entering the infirmary floating the unconscious body of the potions teacher. "And what happened now? What's wrong with him?" asked the minister, pointing at Snape.

"Oh ... uhm ... nothing serious. Just a little accident ..."

"Little accident? The man is unconscious and bleeding from all the holes in his face, by Merlin! What happened this time? After a troll, a dead teacher and a three-headed dog, was it a dragon? Maybe a nundu?" interrupted Amelia Bones sarcastically.

Albus was dumbfounded, and he didn't notice Madame Pomfrey moving Severus Snape to one of the beds and beginning to take care of the man. 'How do they know about Fluffy' thought the old man, 'And a troll? But the troll was at the end of the obstacle course to the stone, how did they get there? Or how could it have left?'

"Dumbledore, I was very clear with you. Your deadline is over and the school is in even greater chaos! Consider yourself removed of the position of headmaster of Hogwarts. Madame Bones, what complaints can we present?" said the minister.

"Oh, we can certainly accuse him of endangering the lives of hundreds of students, indirect participation in the death of Quirinus Quirrell, illegal possession of restricted beasts, and I will also want to speak to him in relation to private detention of a minor and possible abuse of said minor. Albus Dumbledore, consider yourself detained for questioning," replied the head of the DMLE.

Unfortunately, Albus was a powerful wizard, had a phoenix by familiar and knew Hogwarts very well, being in control of the castle's wards. He got away with Fawkes' help. It wasn't possible to stop him, but he now was a hunted man.

Shortly after Dumbledore's escape, two Aurors returned to the infirmary bringing Harry Potter for a check-up and to answer some questions. With the presence of several teachers, including deputy-headmistress McGonagall recovering from a bruise on the left leg caused by the Cerberus when she went to investigate the cause of so much noise in that region of the castle, the boy preferred to omit the help of the house elves, since he could need their help again, and all his involvement in Quirrell's death, merely saying that he had escaped on his own from his quarters to discover a group of students under attack of the troll, which he faced and killed with the aid of a weapon which he removed from a nearby armour statue.

As for Snape, Harry recounted everything except for the participation of the elves, so that the turnaround that had put him in the teacher's mind seemed to be an effect caused by Snape's failure to apply the spell correctly mixed with a spurt of accidental magic. And finding out that the potions teacher, already hated by many, was responsible for Voldemort's attack on the Potters, didn't help the image of the greasy man, now also accused of a legilimency attack against a minor.

 **September 10, 1991, Great Hall, breakfast**

As a typical politician, Fudge avoided making an immediate decision about a new headmaster for Hogwarts or the custody of the boy-who-lived, saying that he would think about matters and communicate his decisions as soon as possible.

Anyway, the mood was festive at breakfast the next day. The students were confident that the new headmaster would be more open to dialogue and to accept the changes they wanted... until the door of the Great Hall opened and Fudge entered with his entourage.

None of the students, not even the most elitist of the Slytherins, believed in what they saw. Dumbledore reinstated, with all the charges forgiven!

Few of these students had a real sense of the political game and its incredible nuances, while the oldest man present was a master at this game. As soon as he had fled from his beloved school, Albus thought deeply about his mistakes, and realized that he had failed by focusing all his efforts on the boy, forgetting the power of the Ministry of Magic, which the boy astutely had gained as an ally through his friendship with Susan Bones and, by means of her, the powerful Madam Amelia, reaching up to Minister Fudge. To reverse the horrible situation he was in, Dumbledore would have to find a way to get the minister on his team, removing the government's support from Harry. It would cost him dearly, but Albus knew there was no other way out after how things had occurred.

Yesterday, when Fudge finished his day early and headed home to think calmly about the latest events, Albus was already there waiting for him. The most difficult part of their conversation, convincing Fudge that Voldemort was still active, took almost three hours of dialogue followed by another hour and a half spent with Fudge confirming with Gringotts goblins that the signature of the wizard who had attempted to invade one of their vaults corresponded with Voldemort's, and with the Unspeakables to confirm that yes, there was still an active prophecy relating to Voldemort and Harry Potter.

Finally convinced, Fudge accepted that the prophecy, whose content Albus avoided telling, was enough evidence that the boy-who-lived should remain in the magical world and be prepared to fulfil his destiny.

The news did not please the students, who were quick to express their displeasure. It deeply hurt the famous old wizard to be booed by the students of his own school, but the minister, showing unusual political cleverness, was able to reverse the situation quickly by asking the students to present their demands.

It was a long morning of negotiations, and each side had to yield a little. Albus insisted that any changes would be initially adopted on a provisional basis only until the Christmas Holiday. During the break for Christmas and New Year there would be a re-evaluation.

Snape would continue as the main potions teacher, but would only teach the last two years, an assistant teacher would be hired for the younger years. No dangerous creatures would be allowed inside the castle, but could be used outside, especially for Care of Magical Creatures classes. Students would take meals on their own House tables, but an area would be immediately made available for inter-house activities. Madame Hooch, having a small charge of classes, would be given the additional responsibility of teaching a class on the customs and traditions of the magical world for muggleborn students. The teachers of History of Magic and Muggle Studies would either improve greatly or be replaced. The new Defence teacher would have to win the students' approval, or be vetoed. Muggle gadgets, such as ballpoint pens and paper notebooks, would be allowed, except for homework and examinations. Finally, Harry Potter would be a normal student at the school, subject to the same obligations as the others, in exchange for the Hogwarts library being equipped with a Muggle books section with at least four well-stocked bookshelves, with half (or more) of the volumes selected from the students' suggestions.

Talking to his friends, Harry agreed that his Muggle school year was already hopelessly lost, so that to help them and to learn more about the magical world, he eventually accepted that spending the rest of the year at Hogwarts would be the best solution, which is why he yielded to that last point so easily. Anyway, to the rebel he was, Harry adored the opportunity to subvert some of those pureblood wizards and witches to the allure of Muggle culture.

"Phew! So our work here is finished, finally," exclaimed Fudge.

"With regard to the students, yes, but there is another subject that needs to be answered, Mr Minister," said the boy-who-lived.

"What do you mean, another subject?" asked the minister.

"Unless you want to face Hogwarts' first ever house elf general strike, the budget for fruit picking needs to be increased by ..." Harry quickly consulted his notes before completing "... seventy-four galleons and 12 sickles monthly. House elves are strictly vegetarian, and although there are adequate amounts of grains and greens, we are short of fruits for a well-balanced diet."

Fudge and Dumbledore exchanged a worried look. Not that the amount was important, with each student paying two thousand galleons a year, but house elves threatening to strike?

 **September 12, 1991, new Inter-house Space, Afternoon**

The new space for fraternization among students from all houses was the first change to be implemented, and a real success. But Harry was a little apprehensive, locked in one of the rooms with a group that seemed to contain almost all the girls in his year and some of the upper years.

"Harry, what do you know about Life Debts?" Daphne asked.

"Uh, not much... like, not a thing at all. Why?" replied the apprehensive boy.

"Well, you saved our lives by killing that troll. Such a gesture has consequences in the magical world," Susan clarified.

"You see, you've created a bond between us, you know, a very strong and… intimate bond," Lisa Turpin said.

"But ... wait, not all of you were there!" said the boy.

"And could you tell which of us were there or not?" asked a small Chinese girl, Su Li, if he remembered correctly.

"Eh ... no, it was all so fast! I didn't have time..."

"Great!" Interrupted several of them at once, and the boy noticed a sudden sense of relief between them.

"But ... what ... what do you mean?" He asked, more and more confused.

"Harry ... even if not directly, you saved our lives, and now they are yours!" said Hannah Abbott.

"What do you mean, I own you now?" The boy asked in amazement.

"Not like that, you silly, but for marriage! You are now our fiancé and will marry us when we reach the age of majority," replied a Gryffindor that Harry was sure was not in his year.

"But how? Marriage is not just between a couple? And I don't even know her name ... or hers ... or hers ..." replied Harry, pointing to some of the girls and already sorry for letting the elves turn him into a hero.

"This is the magical world, Harry, there is little that cannot happen here," said Tracy Davis.

"And you'll have seven years to get to know us better," concluded one of the Patil sisters, Harry still could not distinguish between them.

The boy looked at each of them slowly. His open mouth and bulging eyes clearly showed the astonishment he was in.

"How am I going to support all of you?" He asked at last.

"You're the last of the Potters, Harry," Mandy replied. "Your family has always been very rich."

"Are you sure?" He replied, taking his Gringotts key out of his pocket. "I have only a small vault, it will pay for my school expenses, but there should not be much leftover."

It was at this point that Hurricane Hermione intervened, and changed forever the timid boy's life.

"That won't do. We'll find a way ... I know! We'll use your fame to make money. Parvati and Lavender, you like to design clothes. Begin to create the special Boy-who-lived line. Morag and Sally-Ann, you draw very well, I've seen it. I want a series of posters and t-shirts. Daphne and Susan, you will be the authors of 'The True Adventures of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived'. Lilith, aid that the editor of the Daily Prophet owes favours to your family. Negotiate with him the publication of a special series of articles, 'The Boy-who-lived brides'. What else can we do?"

"I am fluent in German and Swedish, Gutierrez in Spanish and Italian, and with Chang, Li and the Patils ..." commented Daphne.

"We can sell products around the world!" concluded Megan excitedly.

The ideas ran wild. Advertising for shops and companies in the magical world, a line of jewellery and costume jewellery, birthday and Christmas cards, plates and other utensils with Harry's image, and many others. To the horror of the boy, one of the girls at his side was drawing a special line of ... lingerie! And with two green eyes with an evil expression, and the lightning-shaped scar right... there!

 **September 14, 1991, edge of the Black Lake, late afternoon**

The weather was still warm, and with the major issues resolved, at least for now, the second weekend of the Hogwarts school year was used for the biggest fraternization seen at the school in many decades. And Harry, with the help of several Muggleborns, took the opportunity to introduce his new friends to many new muggle things.

Perhaps the most radical was the bikini. For teenagers who saw the girls always covered in long black robes, that much more exposed flesh made many of them break out in a cold sweat any time one of the girls was near.

But volleyball, chosen to keep both teams on opposite sides of the court to avoid the confusion that a sport of greater contact could create, was well accepted by all, as were other muggle novelties like parasols, beach balls, picnic , shrimp skewers, soft drinks... Even the Merfolk ended up participating, and they had fun with the students in the water, teaching those who couldn't swim their first strokes.

 **September 16, 1991, Slytherin Common Room, night**

"Malfoy, what's this about doing nothing? Are we going to let Potter take over the school and fill it with Muggle stuff?" asked Theo Nott.

"Father asked me to be quiet at first, to just watch and keep him informed. Potter is a spoiled brat who doesn't even want to be here. Don't you see what can happen? The old senile Dumbledore has almost lost his position as headmaster. Father is lobbying the school board of governors to get him out. If he can get Potter to go as he wants, or expel him if he doesn't want to leave, we can have control of the school!" replied Draco in the tone of one who has to explain the obvious to someone less capable.

"So we don't do anything?" Pansy asked.

"We put more fuel in the fire if we can, but otherwise we let them fight and weaken," concluded the platinum heir of the Malfoys.

"Any idea how to tease him?" Nott asked.

"Several ... it's just a matter of finding the right time," Draco concluded.

 **September 19, 1991, Hufflepuff dormitory, night**

Harry Potter collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes. The boy was, once again, exhausted. He still didn't understand how he ended up getting connected to 23 girls for life debts if the group he had saved from the troll had only 6 to 8 of them, but they insisted that it was so, and what boy could win alone a discussion against so many girls united in the same opinion?

But how tiring it was to take care of his new duties! He will get quite muscular for his age, having to carry so many school backpacks up and down stairs every class term! And kiss each girl's face to wish them a good morning or good night, walk hand in hand with two of them from class to class, and if that was not enough, birthdays!

Hermione Granger had been twelve on that date and how could he have known? He only discovered when the girls asked him about the surprise party HE should have prepared for one of his girls. If it had not been for his little friends, the house elves, it would have been impossible to prepare a party so fast, or get the flowers and the box of chocolates to give the girl. But it was worth the effort, the party was great and he won his first hug from the dashing birthday girl. Yes, it was tiresome to be the hero of so many girls, but it also had its benefits. Now what he needed was to arrange a schedule so he would not be caught off guard again.

 **September 21, 1991, fifth floor of Hogwarts Castle, late**

Too bad the third weekend of the year started with rain, but Harry didn't worry too much, he had a long-standing plan for such an eventuality. With the help of his friends, the house elves, two large rooms on the fifth floor were adapted and students were introduced to two new attractions that would go on every weekend from now on: the Hogwarts Pizzeria and the Hogwarts Disco.

Oh, and the non-alcoholic fruit cocktails, what a success!

 **September 24, 1991, Hogwarts Entrance Hall, morning**

Draco and his group were going to have breakfast when the boy, seeing Harry go down the stairs with the group of girls who had been with him everywhere since the troll attack, thought he had a good idea of how to torment his rival.

"Hey, scarhead, why are you always hanging around with so many girls? Do you want to be one of them?"

Harry just tilted his head to the side and looked curiously at Malfoy until he made up his mind. With a smile on his lips, he finished going down the flight of stairs and stood beside Pansy. Always smiling, and with a small bow, he spoke her, totally ignoring the boy who had asked him a question.

"Good morning, Pansy, how are you? I hope you had a good night's sleep."

Taken by surprise at the unexpected reaction of the boy-who-lived, and somewhat disarmed by his smile and green eyes, she ended up responding with a "Yes, fine, thank you" before she could stop it.

Turning to Vincent Crabbe, Harry repeated the greeting and the question, but the boy's response was a bit unintelligible, more to a mixture of roar and hoarse grunt.

Harry took advantage of the general confusion to place an arm around Draco's shoulders and take him two steps away from the group before turning him to face the two he had just talked to, alternately pointing to each other as he spoke.

"See, my dear Draco, notice the differences. She, capable of a polite and rational response. He, not even confirming if he is able to talk. She, well dressed and smelling of jasmine; he, appears to not be too accustomed to wearing clothes and smelling of ... no matter! She, her hair well washed and cared for; he ... does he have any kinship with Snape? That greasy hair, I don't know… And you prefer his company to Miss Parkinson's? "

Draco opened his mouth, but as his brain had not yet decided what to say, Harry went faster and, turning to him, continued.

"Oh, but what do we have here? Your hair is even more treated than Pansy's! What about this perfume? Did your Mummy choose it for you? And these clothes, so tight? Does your dad dress like that, too? Uh, I think now I know who really wants to be a girl! Oh ... I'm sorry, it was a secret, wasn't it?"

The blond boy tried to defend himself, but it was not much more than "I didn't ... you ... me ..." before the girls accompanying Harry decided to join in the joke.

"Draco, you need to tell me who your hairdresser is!"

"No need to be ashamed, Drakepoo, it's in your nature, we understand."

"Oh, that perfume, don't you think it would also suit me?"

"Nowadays this kind of behaviour is well accepted, don't worry!"

"Are you wearing lipstick or is it just glow?"

"Do you wear silk lingerie?"

With a sonorous "GRRR !" and cheeks redder than a tomato, the Malfoy heir rushed out toward the dungeons, stepping hard, ignoring the large numbers of students he'd gathered around to see the clash. After about ten paces he turned to his companions, asking "Aren't you coming?" Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle stared at each other, then at their disgruntled colleague before turning their backs and heading into the Great Hall, leaving Pansy looking uncertainly between Draco and the others, not knowing what to do.

 **September 28, 1991, Black Lake, afternoon**

Another sunny weekend, though not so hot anymore. Still, many of the students played in the water, especially when the merpeople came with the giant squid this time. With its ten tentacles wide apart and its whole body spinning slowly, the squid served as an aquatic carousel for the fascinated students.

On the beach, between volleyball matches, the barbecue was served, while in the water, those who tired of the carousel-squid used the boats that brought the first-years to Hogwarts for romantic tours or races. After all, it didn't make sense to use those boats only once a year.

On Sunday, the schedule was already set. Students who had some expertise with music were selected during the past two weeks, and various instruments were purchased so that all interested parties had access to new classes in singing, drums, acoustic bass, guitar, piano, flute, violin, cello, saxophone, xylophone and trumpet. For those who preferred more vigorous physical activities, there would also be the Hogwarts Academy for weightlifting, gymnastics, martial arts, dance and ballet. Finally, three new workshops were also being inaugurated: Painting and Drawing, Craftworks and Theatre.

The feeling of all the students was that now, yes, Hogwarts was a complete school, able not only to teach Magic, but to provide a complete and well-diversified general culture.

 **September 30, 1991, Defence Classroom, afternoon**

Finally a new Defence teacher started today, and with a good lesson for a change. But Harry didn't like it when the man asked him to stay after class. Why him? He hadn't done anything wrong all day!

"Don't worry, Harry, you're not in trouble. I asked you to stay because I wanted to tell you I was a close friend of your parents here at Hogwarts and then ..."

"If you were such a special friend of theirs why did you never come to see me?" interrupted the boy.

"Well, it's just that Dumbledore ..." Lupin tried to reply, but Harry interrupted him again.

"Oh, I understand! A great friend of my parents, but a greater friend of the headmaster. Did you tell on my parents whenever they broke a rule? Dumbledore reward you well for your services?"

"Harry, you don't understand. Dumbledore only wants your good ..."

"No, Professor, Dumbledore only wants Dumbledore's own good," Harry protested.

"Harry, please, you're being too radical. I could tell you about your parents, if you want ..." continued the new teacher.

"And how do I know if I'm being lied or not?" asked the boy.

"Harry, I have no reason to lie to you ..." Remus tried to explain.

"But the headmaster does, and you work for him. No, thank you, goodbye" concluded Harry, already leaving the room angrily.

 **October 2** **nd** **, 1991, Headmaster's office, after dinner**

The headmaster summoned Harry to his office for a conversation. It was difficult to get information about the boy. The teachers knew little, since he had little participation in classes and didn't make much effort in his studies. This student's image was in stark contrast to the boy's deeds: killing a troll, defeating a master in legilimency and, Albus suspected but still had no evidence, stealing the philosopher's stone through a series of obstacles without being even noticed. Besides subverting the whole school! He needed to know the boy better, and Remus Lupin, brought to the school especially for his friendship with the boy's parents, was having a hard time approaching said boy.

As soon as the boy came in and sat down, Dumbledore was surprised to see his phoenix fly from the perch near the window to the boy's lap, where he began to pet the bird.

"Harry, I'm a bit disappointed with your school performance," the headmaster said, staring at the boy. The boy just returned Dumbledore's gaze for some long moments, until Albus decided to be more direct: "Harry, I'm waiting for an answer."

The kid just said, "Albus, I'm waiting for a question."

'How difficult it is to deal with this boy,' thought Albus, sighing deeply. After calming down, he decided he would have to confine himself to direct questions, with which he tried again: "Harry, why have your results in the classes been unsatisfactory?"

"Albus, my results have all been 'Acceptable'. Unless you want to contradict yourself and say 'Acceptable' is not acceptable, I don't know what you're after," Harry said.

This line of questioning wasn't going very well, so the headmaster decided to change the subject: "Harry, when we accepted the presence of muggle objects in school, we were thinking only of pens and notebooks and things like that. Don't you think you went overboard by bringing bikinis, games, comics, and all the rest?"

"Albus, when I asked for the permission of Muggle articles, I meant exactly that, Muggle articles in general, so I didn't specify which ones. If I wanted to restrain them, I would have done so. If you wanted to limit it, you made a mistake by not doing it," Harry replied.

The headmaster had the patience to continue the conversation for another half hour, before giving up completely. Not only had he not been able to extract even a single piece of useful information from the boy, he still felt ridiculed by every response he received. It was only as the boy was leaving his office that Albus finally lost his temper when he saw his familiar was perched on the boy's shoulder.

"FAWKES," he shouted, "COME BACK HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

All Dumbledore heard back was a laugh. The worst thing was: it wasn't Harry Potter who was laughing at him!

 **October 4** **th** **, 1991, office of the Minister of Magic, early afternoon**

"Dumbledore, you have to do something! The radical wing of the purebloods is gaining ground in both the Wizengamot and the Hogwarts Board of Governors, with this invasion of muggle objects and habits at Hogwarts and the interactions among students of various houses, social levels, and blood purity. They are calling for the immediate expulsion of the boy-who-lived and the reversal of all changes. What do we do? They are getting the moderates' endorsements!" complained Fudge.

"Minister, if we withdraw any of the concessions, the students will rebel again. And if we do nothing, we run the risk of losing our jobs. I only see one solution to this dilemma," replied Dumbledore.

"And what is that?" Fudge asked.

"We must let these two factions, rebellious students and pureblood radicals, fight each other, with us helping the students in what we can without being too obvious. With that, the radicals will be demoralized and lose power and we then regain control over Hogwarts and the boy-who-lived," explained the headmaster.

"And how shall we do it? Are you going to leave your post, at least temporarily?" asked the Minister, still uncertain about how Dumbledore hoped to accomplish his plan.

"Oh, no! I need to be there to monitor this conflict closely, and to assist the students as much as possible, without giving evidence of obstructing the radicals. We are going to propose the creation, on an experimental and temporary basis, of a new position, specifically designed to maintain the students' discipline and the traditions of the magical society, and we will hand it over to the purists. Let's see ... What do you think of the title of Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts? Would it be pompous enough to please the radicals?" concluded the headmaster.


	3. The calm before the storm

**CHAPTER 3 - The calm before the storm**

 **A/N:** My special thanks to mab70 for beta-reading. I'm impressed with how many unnecessary uses of 'that' he found in the text. Will need to police myself about that.

 **05 / October / 1991, inter-house meeting room, early afternoon**

Hermione Granger looked around the table, checking the girls present against the list in her hands before starting the meeting.

"Great, we're all here. I declare open the first meeting of the Harry Potter's Brides Association. Before we start the normal agenda, does anyone have any urgent matters to propose?"

"I have one!" said Tracy Davis. "We need to find a way to convince the other girls in school there are no more vacancies in our group. There are already too many of us, and I don't know how to respond girls asking how to join our Association!"

"But do we have the right to decide who enters or not?" asked Susan Bones. "Wouldn't it be Harry's decision ..."

"No!" protested Morag McDougall. "Harry has a heart of gold; he would never be able to say no to anyone. It's already hard to divide him between us. Will we allow all the Hogwarts girls to come in, too?"

"But what can we do?" Hannah Abbott asked. "We don't want to turn them against us. We may need them."

"I guess for now we should keep shielding Harry against their approach," suggested Lilith Moon. "At least six of us should always be standing by him, so they cannot have direct contact with Harry. I do not see what else we can do."

"Any other suggestions?" Hermione asked. "No? Then we will adopt Lilith's idea. I'll check our schedules and set up a relay agenda. Any other urgent matters?"

"Yes, we need more people to work for us," said Lisa Turpin. "We have already recruited practically every Hogwarts student to work for us and yet we are not able to handle all the requests for products."

"This is a difficult problem," commented Padma Patil. "We cannot leave Hogwarts to hire more people, would an announcement in the Daily Prophet solve it?"

"I think it's risky," said Daphne Greengrass. "First, we don't know what kind of person would respond to the ad; second, the headmaster would hardly allow strangers into school; third, we would draw much attention upon ourselves and our secrets would be revealed; fourth, I don't think we'll get the necessary amount of people this way."

"What if we try other schools?" Su Li suggested. "I have two cousins studying at the Beijing Magic School and one in Hong Kong."

"Good idea!" agreed Amanda Gutierrez. "I can contact my cousin at Beauxbatons!"

"Great!" said Megan Jones. "If we can hire people abroad to take care of foreign demand, we can use our Hogwarts staff only for sales in Britain and we save a lot on international freight!"

"It's decided then," concluded Hermione. "Any other urgent matters? No? So we move on to the first subject on our agenda: Harry Potter."

"Just out of curiosity, where is he?" asked Katie Bell. "Is it safe to leave him alone?"

"Don't worry, Katie," Sally Ann answered. "He's with his elf friends. He said he was going to study with them. In fact, I think he is preparing Daphne's birthday party."

"Oh! We're training this boy so well!" commented Susan. "Let's make him an example for all other guys!"

"I still cannot believe how he has accepted the situation so easily!" said Mandy Brocklehurst. "And he's been trying so hard to keep us all happy! I think I'm seriously falling for him!"

"We were very lucky he didn't have any serious male influence in his life to corrupt him with chauvinist garbage," said Susan.

"How so? Did you find out something about his life, Susan?" asked Padma.

Susan's reaction was immediate, blushing and staring at the floor. Her roommates did not miss the opportunity to add to her discomfort, as they were a little annoyed by the advances the little redhead had made with Harry.

"Susan had nightmares about the troll. We couldn't calm her down. She just wanted her hero," Hannah said.

"She ran into the boys' dormitory and didn't come back until the next morning," Sally-Ann continued.

"She slept all night in Harry's bed," Megan revealed. "And it wasn't just that one time. She did the same thing two other nights already!"

"SUSAN!" shouted several of the girls at the same time. From then on the meeting was spent on discussing limits and rules on interactions so none of the girls felt betrayed or wronged. Only much later did one of them remember to return to the original subject.

"Susan, you've discovered something important about Harry, haven't you?" Morag asked.

"Yes," replied the girl timidly, still embarrassed by the previous discussion. "After his parents died, Harry was abandoned at the door of his Aunt's house by Dumbledore, in the middle of the night. His relatives didn't like having to look after him at all. Life was difficult for him until he was about five and a half years old. It was January, and it had snowed. His cousin, who was a little older than Harry, saw an ad about a new sweet on something called a TV and had the biggest tantrum he wanted to try it at that very moment. So much so Harry's uncle went out with the boy to buy the chocolate. On their way back home, there was an accident. They didn't survive."

"Wow! That must have been such a shock to Harry!" Lavender commented.

"Not so much, they didn't get along very well. Harry didn't give many details, but I think he was mistreated by them," Susan explained. "Harry's aunt went into a deep depression and only survived because Harry took care of everything for weeks while she did nothing but cry."

"What do you mean, he took care of everything? He was not even six years old!" commented Mandy.

"He took care of cleaning and maintaining the house, did the shopping and prepared meals, paid the bills using his uncle's money and kept everything in order until his aunt recovered. When she realized how much the boy had struggled, and how well he had managed to get through it, she came to accept him better," concluded Susan.

"This boy is worth his weight in gold," Katie commented. "He deserves to be happy."

 **07 / October / 1991, Defence classroom, afternoon**

Harry watched his Defence teacher leave the classroom sad and crestfallen. In a way he felt sorry for the man. Lupin was a good teacher, and he seemed to be a good person as well, but he was too attached to Dumbledore so Harry couldn't accept him unreservedly.

The teacher had barely begun the conversation before asking when Harry would return Fawkes to the headmaster. As if Harry was holding the bird trapped in a cage! Harry respected Fawkes, the bird was free to do as he pleased; if he preferred Harry's company to that of the headmaster, how was it his fault?

Lupin then made his second mistake in trying to use emotional blackmail against the boy, speaking of his parents' aspirations for his future. As if children did not have a life of their own to live, and were obliged to fulfil the destiny imagined by their parents, without a right to their own opinion and will!

And that bunch of thugs called 'The Marauders'? Was it so hard to understand how different Harry's rebellion was to group of troublemakers without a cause? Harry fought for his freedom; and for better conditions for his friends. The Marauders only wanted to have adventures, sow confusion, gain fame, and shame whoever stood against them.

Trying to entice Harry with lessons about turning into an animal was not a bad idea at all, but would it be wise for a teacher to suggest lessons in pranks? Very strange!

However, something Lupin had said about animagus and the Marauders was bouncing in his subconscious. There was something odd about it that he could not understand.

 **12 / October / 1991, castle entrance, morning**

After his humiliation in front of almost the whole school, Draco had left Harry in peace while he concentrated his new infallible plan to defeat the boy-who-lived. Quite frankly, it was like a cartoon thing, with the archenemy making mind-boggling plans that only go wrong.

Draco and his gang, now without Pansy, who chose to back off because she was still uncertain as to the snob's actual preferences, harassed Harry and his ever-present female company again at the foot of the grand staircase. His brilliant idea was to challenge the boy to a broom race next Saturday just after breakfast. Draco having chosen the date and 'weapon' for the duel, Harry accepted, but demanded to choose the course.

"Hey scarhead, do you want to give up already and save yourself the humiliation?" asked the Slytherin upon arriving for the race. "Look at this! The new Nimbus 2000, the most advanced broom in existence. And what will you use? One of those mediocre school brooms?"

Draco's broom was beautiful, with a handle in richly ornate wood, and the bristles in twigs selected by hand. But Harry was not worried at all. Opening the box at his feet, he removed a broom people not used to Muggle products were impressed to see. Aluminium and plastic were unknown materials in the magical world. And Harry's broom had a silver-aluminium handle, with bright-yellow plastic bristles gathered in a head of solid green plastic.

"What is this?" asked the blond boy, his eyes bulging, seeing something so different from what he had expected.

In a tone reminiscent of a teacher answering a stupid question, Harry said with forced calm, "It's a broom, Draco. Come on, it's not so different from that wooden toothpick in your hands. Even you should have noticed the resemblance."

"But ... it's not fair ... that's not the type of broom ..." he tried to argue.

"You asked for a broom race, and it's a broom. If you wanted to limit it to brooms of a certain type, you should have been more specific. Now stop complaining. It's going to ruin your make-up," Harry countered as he handed the boy a small map. "Here is the route of the race. It is simple enough not even one with your serious limitations will be able to get lost. Ready?"

"But ... this course ... is all inside the castle, and full of right-angle curves, in narrow, low corridors. How are we going to fly like this?" the mighty Malfoys' heir objected again.

"Who told you we would fly?" said Harry. "You wanted a broom run. We'll run. How's your breath, Draco?"

 **12 / October / 1991, fifth floor of Hogwarts, night**

Harry looked at the girls who called themselves his brides, and smiled in satisfaction. It took a lot of work to take care of so many girls, but it was also rewarding. He had almost memorized their preferences for tea, other drinks, and food, but there was still some confusion with colours and flowers.

Another weekend was going very well for the unprejudiced Hogwarts students. After again humiliating the purported leader of the purebloods at school, Harry had spent an afternoon learning to skate on the makeshift ice rink the elves provided.

Those elves were really fantastic. They were always ready to help and had such skill with magic! Harry was learning a lot from them. He really wanted to be able to do more for his little buddies, but it was hard to get them to accept something in return. There were times when Harry thought all they wanted was more work to do!

While resting a little, Harry walked around the game rooms, and had a great time watching students jumping on the trampoline. Today was the day to introduce the magical world to the deliciousness of hot dogs and soft drinks. Another great success! And tomorrow, at his suggestion, the meals would begin to vary: each lunch and dinner would contain one or two foreign dishes, and students could vote on which ones they liked the most so they could be repeated often.

 **October 13, 1991, headmaster's office, night**

Albus Dumbledore drank a glass of firewhiskey as he thought about the events of the year and their main instigator: Harry Potter. From his teachers', and his own, direct observations, it seemed the boy had the magical power and knowledge of an average Hogwarts' first year student. How then to explain that he had been able to kill a troll and defeat Severus in legilimency, not to mention the strange case of Quirinus? Although he found no evidence linking the boy to the teacher's death, Albus didn't rule out the possibility. The remains of the enchanted harp found in Fluffy's room were proof the defence teacher had discovered how to get past the three-headed dog and, without someone's intervention, he should have been successful in moving on to the next step in his quest for the philosopher's stone .

And where did that stone go? Albus even searched Harry's belongings, but found no stone. Who else could have gotten to it? The headmaster had no other suspects.

In giving in to muggle books and paraphernalia at school, Dumbledore was sure only the few pupils coming from this environment would make use of them. How wrong he had been! Even the telescopes used in Astronomy were now almost all of Muggle origin! Aurora was radiant with her new reflector telescope that she swore to be at least twenty times more powerful than the magical equivalent, and with none of the aberrations they were plagued with.

Not to mention the inter-house space, where study groups gathered at every opportunity to study Muggle arts and sciences. It was fortunate Hogwarts had too much magic for electronic equipment to work, or he was sure his ears would be suffering from those noisy styles of music Muggle youngsters were so fond of!

At first, getting Harry to agree to become a regular school student seemed to have been a major victory, especially with Albus reinstated as headmaster and the new Defence teacher, Remus Lupin, a former friend of the Potters, to try to create an emotional bond with the boy. But Harry had shown little interest in giving in to Remus' attempts at approach, and worse, the boy was now the undisputed leader of the school, more obeyed and respected than the headmaster himself!

This was something Dumbledore couldn't allow. He would have to do something to regain control of the situation. And such was his need he even thought of trying to take the lead on the boy regarding innovations. Surely that would make him loved by his students, but there were two problems there: Albus did not have the necessary knowledge about the Muggle world nor the proximity to the students to hear from them what they wanted. Moreover, it was his opinion too many changes had already been made, and too quickly! Not that he had anything against the Muggles, but he was a conservative at heart, and wanted both worlds to keep their distance.

Having totally released the students' correspondence, which was inevitable, Dumbledore at first came to think he could benefit from the fact. With Harry receiving the flurry of letters from admirers and fans, once blocked, he hoped the boy would begin to get a taste for being the famous boy-who-lived, and would be too busy to continue interfering with the school. But somehow, the boy was able to respond to his correspondence quickly and not let the constant praise go to his head. And worse: he was influencing the minds of his future students, as evidenced by some letters he had received from young children asking for even more changes at the school!

At least Severus had recovered enough of his health to return to teaching the class for the last two years, though he remained weak and, to be honest, even stranger than his normal. But what worried Albus here was the revelation that Harry had been able to reverse Severus' attack and read his mind. He now knew of the prophecy and the role of Severus in Voldemort's attack on the Potters! Maybe it was time to tell him the whole prophecy and offer the boy some special training to fulfil his destiny, then possibly Albus could bring the boy closer to him and influence him.

But a doubt still lingered in the old man's white-haired head: having magic at their disposal to do whatever they wanted, why were so many students doing physical exercises in the morning?

 **October 16, 1991, fourth floor hall, afternoon**

Harry was going to dinner with six of his friends when he saw his way blocked by six Slytherins of the older years. A quick glance back showed six other Slytherins blocked the way they came. With all the Slytherins with their wands in their hands, pointed at them, and the angry faces they displayed, even Crabbe would be able to see their intentions were not at all friendly.

"Stay close together and hold each other tight," Harry murmured to the girls as they watched the Slytherins approach. He was already thinking about how to proceed, and a quick glance at the phoenix on his shoulder confirmed the help he needed was available.

Identifying the leader of the Slytherins, Harry set out for the attack, but only verbally.

"Hey, Flint! You also decided to take a little walk with your girlfriends?"

'Oh, I hit a nerve' Harry thought at the immediate reaction of the Slytherins in front of him. Their faces turned red with rage, and it was clear they were about to start casting spells on the first-years.

"You've gone too far, Potter. You will learn a lesson and remove all this muggle trash from here, or suffer..."

"And how do you and your pack of idiots expect to accomplish this? Have you learned any spells more advanced than Lumos?" interrupted the boy, preparing for action.

"ARRRGGGHHHH!" grunted the Slytherin before shouting "NOW!"

Harry and the girls saw several spells being thrown at them just before they disappeared, reappearing on the seventh floor, thanks to Fawkes's powers. They didn't see the result of the spells, but only learned later eleven of the twelve Slytherins would spend one or more nights in the medical wing of Hogwarts, recovering. Interesting, none of the Slytherins had ever noticed before, casting spells from opposite directions can be dangerous if your enemy isn't there to receive them. The spells will continue their path and end up hitting your compatriots.

Thanks to his elven friends, the fame of the already well-known boy-who-lived rose to new heights with the story of how he alone had faced and defeated a dozen older students without even a scratch. That's how the story came to the Daily Prophet, thanks to Rita Skeeter, increasing the boy's fame outside the castle as well. And 'outside of the castle' now meant the whole world, since Skeeter was selling her special revelations about the boy-who-lived to newspapers beyond Britain.

 **19 / October / 1991, Quidditch Field, Morning**

It was becoming routine to have a face-off with Malfoy every Saturday morning. This time the blonde had decided to challenge Harry to a duel, and chose the Quidditch pitch as the locale. And he'd summoned the whole school to watch. How much humiliation could he still bear?

"Here they are," said Harry, putting two boxes on the two small tables the elves brought to the centre of the field.

"Here's what? What are you up to this time, Potter?" Draco asked.

"The guns, you prat," explained the boy with the lightning bolt scar. "You issued the challenge and selected the location, date, and time. At the very least you'll have to let me supply the weapons. And here they are."

Draco opened his box, and had no idea what to do with those pieces inside it. Meanwhile, Madame Hooch, invited to referee the event, shouted "Ready, Set, Go!"

Draco was still staring blankly at each of the pieces when he heard Harry say, "Ready? Here it comes!" He just had time to raise his head to the boy before being struck on the forehead and falling on his bum, having been hit by a bullet of yellow paint from the paintball gun Harry had quickly assembled and loaded.

 **October 22, 1991, Great Hall, over breakfast**

At Harry's request, Susan had asked for her Aunt to return to the school, accompanied by some aurors. She was a little hurt he was asking for a favour while refusing to tell her the reason. All he had said was that it would be a big surprise to everyone.

As soon as Madame Amelia Bones arrived, Harry went to meet her and asked her to wait just a moment while he invited two other people to accompany them, and then went to the teachers' table, completely ignoring the headmaster who tried to question him about the interruption.

"Professor McGonagall, do you remember me asking you about ways to check if an animal is indeed an Animagus? I'd like your help with a case if you can join us. Professor Lupin, I would like you to come as well, you may be able to help us identify a person," said Harry to the two teachers, who then joined Amelia's entourage, plus the angry headmaster, who kept glaring at the boy and the phoenix on his shoulder.

Reaching the picture of the fat lady guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor tower, Minerva could not help asking, "What are we doing here, Mr Potter? And how did you find this entrance?"

"Professor, please," the boy asked. "That's not really important. Could you lead us to the first-year boys' dormitory? I'll answer your questions as soon as we deal with the main problem."

What ensued caused such confusion that Minerva took days to question the boy again. Peter Pettigrew alive and hidden in Hogwarts as Ron Weasley's pet rat! Remus was fit to burst with the happiness of knowing that Sirius Black was innocent and would soon be free, and the anger of knowing he had been imprisoned for so long without trial for that Peter's betrayal that Remus had come to regard as a hero! But Dumbledore was not happy at all. The release of Sirius meant the end of his guard over Harry. He needed to meet Harry's godfather urgently and bring him to his side before things took off in unplanned and unwanted direction.

 **22 / October /1991, inter-house meeting room, late afternoon**

"Harry, how did you find out about Pettigrew?" Susan asked.

"Easy. Professor Lupin gave me almost all the necessary information. He told me about the group of students called Marauders he had attended school with, which included Pettigrew, my father, and Sirius Black. He also told me how these three became animagi, and the forms of each. As soon as he told me the story, I knew there was something important there, and that I needed to remember something else to solve the mystery. It took some time, but finally I remembered one of my elf friends had commented on Weasley's rat, that something seemed to be wrong with the rat and it smelled of human. Then I just joined the facts and prepared the catch."

"Very well, Harry," said Hermione, "Now we need you to sign some more documents for us. You can rest assured we have already returned all the money we borrowed from your vault, and business is going well. Want to see the exact numbers?"

"Are we making a profit?" he asked.

"Oh yeah! We're making a great profit," happily replied Hermione.

"That's enough for me. I trust you, all of you," he replied, gaining a show of affection and recognition from the girls for his confidence.

"Have you planned what to do over the weekend, Harry?" Tracy asked. "A girl needs some time to get ready for this kind of event, you know."

"Oh, yes, I have everything planned. It will be best if you come in pants or shorts, something sporty, with which you can move freely without risk of revealing more than you want. You will learn two new games: Twister and Dodge Ball," Harry replied.

"What about the food?" Mandy asked.

"Popcorn! You'll love it! And also cotton candy, caramel apple, salted peanuts, potato chips and ice cream!" said Harry, happy with the choices.

 **26 / October / 1991, Great Hall, morning**

Gringotts had a special type of vault for use by underage wizards and witches, called a trust vault. The head of the house stipulated an amount, up to 50,000 galleons, and an annual date of deposit. Each year, by the stipulated date, the child's vault was filled up to its limit from the family vault, and the child could withdraw from their trust vault as long as there was an available balance.

Draco had insisted a lot, and his father had yielded and used his influence to get Draco's vault to a particularly high limit: 200,000 galleons. Lucius had only agreed because Draco had promised never to let the balance of the vault fall to less than 150,000 galleons, and that the higher limit was only to impress the other Slytherins.

In fact, his plan was to try again to humiliate Potter, and get financial redress for the times the boy had bested him. During breakfast, Draco decided to provoke his enemy by shouting from his table: "Hey scarhead! Your family must be very poor, judging by the kind of clothes you have and the company you keep!"

Harry took a deep breath and prepared to respond to the snobbish boy when Daphne, to his right, put a hand on his shoulder and said in a whisper, "Please leave him with me this time."

After receiving an affirmative nod from the boy, Daphne began to prepare the trap for the pathetic Slytherin.

"Hey, little Drakey, are you going to protect yourself behind Dad's fortune or are you just comparing what you have in your personal vault?"

"Ah! As if I needed help to beat this pathetic street kid!" Malfoy replied.

"Do you want to bet then? The contents of your personal vault against his, for which of you has most deposited in the bank?" proposed the blonde girl.

"Deal! Professor Snape will be the judge!" determined Draco, lifting and pulling out his Gringotts bank statement from the inside pocket of his robes, not for a moment suspecting the girl had cooperated too easily with his plan.

"All right!" said Daphne, also standing up and walking calmly to the Potions master as she took Potter's bank statement from her backpack.

"And why is Mr Potter's bank statement in your possession, Miss Greengrass?" Snape asked as she approached him.

Assuming an air of importance, the girl put all the arrogance she could in her reply: "Because Mr Potter is too busy to pay attention to such trivial matters and agreed that I should take care of them for him."

Both students handed the bank statements to Snape. Looking first at the paper delivered by Malfoy, the teacher smiled at his godson as he realized he had succeeded in expanding the traditional boundary of the under-age vaults. But as he looked at the statement delivered by Daphne, his jaw dropped. Unlike Draco, who only held in his vault the money he received from his father, Harry's vault contained all the income from the Potter's Brides Association, which was now surpassing seventeen million galleons.

Snape removed his wand and performed some spells confirming the authenticity of the document before turning to his female student, asking confusedly, "How?"

"Mr Potter is not a mere waste of family fortune, like certain others," replied Daphne, casting a disdainful glance at the Malfoy's heir. "He knows how to earn his own money and invest his earnings profitably so he does not have to live on parental charity."

Draco was forced to fill in a transfer of funds right there and send it to Gringotts. He was seriously considering whether it would be better to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas, and maybe a few others. Explaining what had happened to nearly two hundred thousand galleons for his father could quickly become a very painful experience.

 **03 / November / 1991, special rooms on the Fifth Floor, afternoon**

Finally a Saturday without having to face some dispute against the professional loser of Slytherin! Could the arrogant blonde have at last learned his lesson, or just hadn't been able to prepare some wonderful plan in time? This was the doubt that crossed Harry's head as he watched the girls perform the first play at Hogwarts: George Bernard Shaw's 'Man and Superman'. And the next one was already being announced for the month of December: 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett.

It was not that thinking of Malfoy was in any way interesting, but Harry was concerned about a new development in relation to his self-proclaimed brides: they were now going further than kissing his cheeks. Not that they were doing anything more than a quick kiss on the lips, or that he didn't like it, but Harry was a complete newcomer to girls and relationships, and he was terrified of doing something wrong. He had discovered he was utterly incapable of saying no to a girl if she gave certain kinds of looks they had to spare: the look of an abandoned puppy, the crying face, the cute pouts, the little seductive smile, the shy helpless little girl look, the nervous 'teeth over bottom lip'; all these were deadly weapons!

But how their friendship was worth it! They had made him a multi-millionaire, and they still encouraged him a lot, in every way. His studies were going very well, only he had decided not to show the teachers, and especially the headmaster, how great his progress was. Most of all, he didn't want anyone to find out how much he'd learned from the elves. Their way of using magic was so much more natural and simple! It was amazing no one had ever bothered to really learn and appreciate it.

It was difficult, but at last he had obtained the permission of the elves to teach his girls their form of magic. In return, they had to take an oath not to reveal anything to anyone without the elves' permission and never to mistreat them. A small price for such power, as they soon all realized, giving the oath promptly.

Harry had been very happy with their decision. Soon they would be able to defend themselves and, together, there would be few things they couldn't do. Harry was full of plans, and he began slowly to share these plans with his friends, testing their receptiveness to his ideas and asking for their collaboration to further improve their dream for a better world.

 **05 / November / 1991, headmaster's office, night**

Albus Dumbledore was worried. Never before had his school been so little his. In the last weeks he had only counted on the presence of his phoenix for a few days, and only because it preferred to return to its perch for its 'burning'. The elves still obeyed him as long as he did not ask anything about Harry Potter and the bunch of girls who accompanied him. The paintings had nothing to tell him about the boy, it was as if they were frozen and insensitive each time the boy approached them. The ghosts of the castle refused to cooperate. The castle itself refused to cooperate! The charm that warned him whenever Potter left the castle was still active, but everything else failed without explanation. Charms to listen when Harry spoke or inform him of the boy's position inside the castle stopped working within seconds of being applied. It was a conspiracy, but Albus saw nothing he could do.

The purists had taken the bait, and happily accepted the creation of the post of Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts. However, they were being cautious, something rare for this group of egocentrics, and instead of immediately appointing someone to the post and initiating changes, they had postponed the Inquisitor taking office until after Christmas, so that Dumbledore's and Fudge's agreement with the students would not be broken. What's more, Albus was certain that in the coming weeks some new laws would be proposed by them regarding magical education, so they would take over the role with broad legal backing. Dumbledore would have to closely monitor any proposed laws voted on in the near future so the purists would not gain excessive power over the students or his plan would fail.

Sirius was causing some delay in Albus' plans. The man had been seriously weakened by his long stay at Azkaban, but now he was recovering quickly. At least it had not been hard to convince him of the need to keep the boy at Hogwarts, and Albus had not even needed to reveal the prophecy to the Marauder, keeping that weapon for another time.


	4. It's war time!

**A/N:** My thanks to mab70 who helped make this mess readable.

 **CHAPTER 4 – It's war time!**

 **21/December/1991, Director's office, late afternoon**

Albus was awaiting the arrival of young Harry as soon as the boy had finished his last class of the year. Tomorrow, Saturday, the students would be going to their homes, celebrating the holidays, then returning on Sunday, January 5.

It had been difficult for Albus to keep silent against so many changes at Hogwarts he considered harmful. The amount of Muggle material in the castle, the playful freedom and mixing between houses, the invasion of dangerous Muggle ideas such as basic equality among sentient beings ... yes, it was an interesting and important idea, but the Wizarding world was not prepared for such an extreme change, and trying to spread it prematurely would only make the purists radicalize further into their positions, and they were the majority in the government.

So much so that all this would soon be overturned. Upon returning from winter break, the students would receive shocking news: first, the agreement that allowed all those of changes would not be renewed, and everything should return to normal; second, to enforce this return to normality and put a brake on any more rebellion, a Grand Inquisitor would be present at Hogwarts to ensure the students' obedience.

Albus hoped with all his heart this new position of Grand Inquisitor would be given to Lucius Malfoy. The name Malfoy had already become a laughing stock at school, with Draco's constant defeats by young Harry at every challenge. It would be nice if the father were also demoralized a little, it could open a breach in the purist faction which might hopefully be used to bring some of them to the side of the Greater Good.

Another troublesome issue was the group of girls who had surrounded young Harry practically from the beginning. Clever, those girls! They were making so much money for the boy that soon he would have more at his disposal than the inheritance that awaits his coming of age in Gringotts. Albus was certain a few comments about non-school activities and the risk of promiscuity with so many girls always around Harry in the Inquisitor's ear, soon all production and sale of articles related to the boy-who-lived would be stopped and Harry separated from those dangerous witches.

And there, sitting in front of him, was his best chance to get any direct influence on young Harry. Sirius Orion Black, head of the prestigious Black family, one of the infamous Marauders along with Harry's father, and most importantly, the boy's godfather, was intrigued by his godson's school activities.

A knock on the office door announced the arrival of young Harry, who was asked to enter. Before the adults could comment, the boy took control of the conversation.

"Hi! Are you Sirius, my godfather?"

"Yes, Harry, I am. How about a hug?" Sirius replied, opening his arms in invitation.

Harry thought that was strange. After all, he had never seen the man before and he was already asking for hugs, as if they were old friends meeting again? Better ask some questions to know this guy's intentions.

"As my magical guardian, and me being the last of the Potters, you could declare me an adult. Do you think we could discuss..."

"No, Harry!" Sirius replied suddenly. "You're too young to even think about that possibility."

"I see," Harry replied, even though he did not understand it much. "What about my education? I had this scholarship for Eton..."

"Harry, Hogwarts is the best school in the wizarding world. You're a wizard, you need to develop your gifts and Hogwarts is the best place for that," said Sirius, a little annoyed by the boy's cold reception and his insistence on returning to the Muggle world.

"Great, that makes it easy!" The boy replied, astonishing the two adults who did not understand the nature of the comment.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

"It is obvious! Sirius made it clear he's another dictator, just like you, headmaster. He refused what is most important to me without even asking a question to understand my side of the situation. Patently, he is useless to me, just another obstacle to overcome, so I do not need to worry about ever seeing him again. Bye!"

And with that the boy turned and started walking to the door. Albus, however, used his wand to close and seal the door. It was critical that Sirius had a chance to start a relationship with the boy.

"Harry, I was your father's best friend and a close friend of your mother's. There are so many stories I could tell..." Sirius began; realizing he needed to act fast or his first meeting with his godson might well be his last.

"I'm sure the headmaster has plenty of time to listen to them, he does not do anything useful around here anyway," Harry replied before looking at Fawkes, as always perched on his shoulder. "I do, however, have people who appreciate who I am and do not try to change me and I will not waste my time with manipulators."

With that, and a sudden flash of red flame, the boy disappeared from the office. No adult saw him again until the evening of the 5th, when the rest of the students returned from home.

 **06 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, morning**

Not all the students were present at breakfast when an entourage arrived and took seats at the staff table. The four heads of houses were soon dispatched to their respective houses' dormitories to ensure the students were all present in the hall as quickly as possible.

From Ravenclaw's table Harry immediately realized something big was about to happen. The malevolent gaze of the newcomers on all the students seated at tables other than their own was a clear indication that Hogwarts was about to undergo an abrupt turn toward elitism, prejudice, and authoritarianism.

"Tell everyone to meet in the common rooms of their houses soon after we are released," he said loudly enough to be heard by many of his friends, but not enough to catch the attention of the occupants of the teachers' table.

Soon the last students arrived in a hurry, followed by more than twenty aurors who occupied positions on the two side walls of the room, except for three that closed the entrance doors and remained in front of them, preventing exit.

Albus Dumbledore was the first to speak, and he only quickly introduced the others. He was followed by Lucius Malfoy, present at the event as a representative of the Board of Governors of Hogwarts.

"It was with great anguish and sadness that we saw thousand years old traditions being discarded, the respect due to those of best birth denied, the customs that make British magical society the apex of creation ridiculed and replaced by deeds worthy of the most vile Muggle, impotent to defend the noble hierarchy of our society because a small group of rebels with no past or dignity forced their ill-conceived and detestable ideas upon naive children who have not yet had the time or opportunity to know and appreciate the proper and aristocratic ways of acting transmitted by our ancestors since the beginnings of our civilization."

Lucius might well have stopped in that first paragraph. To continue for another half hour just repeating what he had already expressed in his first words only bored most of those present. Only in the end did he said something new.

"... and that is why we have decided to propose the creation of a new post, the Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts, to ensure the noble ideals and high morals of our ancestors are taught anew and respected by future generations, and corrupting ideas and influences brought from the decadent and harmful Muggle society are evicted from a more refined environment where they are not part and can in no way be allowed ..."

It was then the turn of Pius Thicknesse to speak as representative of the Wizengamot. This at least did not take long. He could only repeat some of Malfoy's criticisms. The poor man did not seem to be too accustomed to original thoughts. Finally, Pius presented the person designated to be the Grand Inquisitor: "At this time I have the great honour of introducing the first Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts, our most esteemed companion, Madame Dolores Umbridge, to whom I give the floor."

If some students were already overwhelmed by the degree of prejudice and snobbery that Lucius and Pius had shown, Dolores quickly showed they were nothing close to what she was capable of. After another half hour of boring speech defending the noble supremacy of purebloods, she finally came to the heart of the matter.

"... and to this end we decree the following:

"Educational Decree No. 23: It is hereby established all violations of regulations and norms committed by students of this establishment shall be referred to the Grand Inquisitor, who shall have full powers to administer and supervise the punishments best suited to the severity of each infraction.

"Educational Decree No. 24: The possession and use of any Muggle-made items within the castle or Hogwarts lands and fields is prohibited. Students will have until the end of today to dispose of such items without incurring punishment.

"Educational Decree No. 25: Since the students of this institution have demonstrated total lack of respect and acquiescence with the existing housing system, and with the intention of establishing a minimum degree of hierarchy and respect and ensuring the privileges of those who, by right and tradition, should have it, pupils will be separated by their social situation, namely: purebloods of noble ancestry, other purebloods, half-bloods and Muggleborns. The interaction between students of different social strata must be kept to the minimum necessary and with the due manifestation of respect and deference to the student of greater status, under penalty of punishment to the offender.

"Educational Decree No. 26: Faced with the recent excesses and disrespect and disinterest of the students in the points system and the Houses Cup, Educational Decree No. 4 of August 6, 1067, which stipulated as the only punishments applicable to be the retreat of points, detention and expulsion is hereby revoked. The Grand Inquisitor shall have the right to inflict on the offending pupils any punishment they deem fair and appropriate to the severity of the offense, including corporal punishment.

"Educational Decree No. 27: Each student can only take their meals at the table reserved for their social condition. The Grand Inquisitor will see to it that dishes of Muggle origin or foreign origin are eliminated from the menu, as well as ensure adequate menus are established in each social category. This includes the limitation of quality and variety served to the lessor classes, so the upper classes can receive a diet consistent with their status.

"Educational Decree No. 28: Given the responsibility and importance of the position, only pureblood students of noble ancestry will be considered fit to hold the position of Prefect, Head-boy and Head-girl.

"Educational Decree No. 29: Given the disrespect with which the traditions of the magical world were treated recently, the noble and traditional sport of Quidditch is prohibited to those who are not of pure blood.

"Educational Decree No. 30: The discipline of 'Good conduct and Good Customs' is obligatory for non-pureblood students, so that the less privileged students learn their obligations and duties, and no longer have the excuse of ignorance for faults committed against their betters.

"Educational Decree No. 31: It is forbidden to non-purebloods the use of magic outside the classrooms until they reach the age of majority.

"Educational Decree No. 32: Established, as of this date, the preferential system of attendance for students. Extra classes time of teachers, library books, and all other school resources may only be used by a student of a given social strata if no upper higher-class students need them. If such a need arises after said resource is in use by the student with the lower status, the student with the higher status has the right to demand the immediate return of the resource for their use.

"That's what we have right now. New decrees may and will be issued as soon as they become necessary. For some of you they may seem excessive, but this is necessary because of the anarchy that has been allowed so far. Soon you will be enjoying all the benefits brought by the discipline and correct hierarchy of rights and duties, and will be grateful to us adults for taking the responsibility to bring them back on track ..."

 **06 / January / 1992 – Come-and-Go Room, Soon After**

Harry was now a soldier on mission, and the war had just begun. The so-called authorities of the magical world wanted to throw out the window all the achievements the students at Hogwarts had reached with so much effort. No way!

Umbridge had ended her speech by asking the students to gather their possessions and return to the Great Hall for the assignment of a new dormitory according to their social class. Harry had taken advantage of the confusion and rushed to the Room of Requirements, managing to escape the not so attentive supervision of the Aurors that accompanied the students. Apparently not all of them were happy with the direction the situation was taking.

As soon as he reached that wonderful room his elven friends had shown him, the boy turned it into a giant central recreational space with small side lounges for use as study places, games or whatever else they needed. On either side of the central space and over the smaller rooms, several stories with four-bed suites in each would accommodate students who were willing to fight the absurdity the Little Usurper wanted to impose upon them.

Within seconds he had called his elven friends, summoned them to fight alongside the students, and distributed some immediate tasks. Now he was creating a door to each of the common rooms of the houses and summoning the students to join him instead of obeying the orders given by the Pink Nightmare.

The whole of Hufflepuff soon joined him, followed closely by almost all of Gryffindor; only Percy and Ron Weasley, still angry at him, declined to come. Much of Ravenclaw, about three-quarters of the house, also joined them. In Slytherin alone the rebel contingent was small: just over a quarter of the students. Not that there were no more students willing to participate, Harry knew about half of the students in the house were supportive of him, but some of them were frightened by the reaction their parents might have knowing about the rebelliousness of their children. Some feared the kind of reprisals the government might take against their parents who worked there. Harry understood their and some of Ravenclaw students' plight, and vowed not to harbour any ill-feelings against them. Anyway, having some 'infiltrated' students in the opposing camp could prove to be advantageous.

 **06 / January / 1992 – Hufflepuff common room, morning**

Dawling was regarded as one of the most loyal Aurors to the Minister of Magic, hence being placed as leader of the Auror group that would accompany Hufflepuff students and the rebel chief, Harry Potter, to his quarters. Too bad they had been ordered to wait for the students at the door of the Common Room without entering. When he finally got tired of waiting and went in, he discovered no students were there. His first great mission, and there was no way it could have gone more wrong!

 **06 / January / 1992 – Gryffindor common rooms, morning**

The Auror Shacklebolt also tired of waiting and entered the Common Room of Gryffindor to find two huge canaries in the centre of the room, tweeting and flapping their wings hysterically. After two 'Finite Incantatem', the Weasley brothers informed him of the disappearance of the other students through a temporary door, controlled by the rebel leader Potter. Shacklebolt needed a lot of control not to laugh.

 **06 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, late morning**

Dumbledore was confused, shocked even, but overall happy. The war he wished to create only to observe from afar had begun earlier than he had thought possible. He regarded both the rebellious students and the purist faction of government as enemies. Now one of them would be defeated and the other would probably be weak enough to be easily controlled.

However, a small doubt impaired his complete happiness with the events. Young Harry had managed to disappear, taking two-thirds of the school with him, even under auror supervision. How? To be honest, he himself would have difficulty performing such a feat, not that he would ever confess it to anyone. This caused apprehension in the old wizard. A clever, resourceful young orphan, capable of garnering the loyalty of his peers and placing himself as the leader even of much older students... The last time he had heard this story, it ended very badly for the wizarding world. He would have to make sure it did not happen again this time.

It was useless to search the whole castle. No sign was found of the missing students. Umbridge shouted hysterical orders left and right, but nothing seemed to work, to the point that Lucius Malfoy decided it would be better for him to be somewhere else when the great failure of the Inquisitor was to be known outside of school. Perhaps his absence would prevent his name from being tainted.

Unfortunately, as soon as Lucius tried to step out of the castle, he realized he had actually stepped inside. He was persistent. He tried again nearly a dozen times. Someone said the clearest sign of extreme stupidity was to do the same thing over and over in the hope of getting a different result. Not flattering for Lucius to remember this saying at that time.

The elves were doing their part in the revolt. No member of the Commission could leave the castle, as after more time than necessary for a person with a normal brain would need, Mr Malfoy finally understood (aurors and teachers were not impeded, as they soon discovered). Each time he tried to leave, an elf made him turn back inside the castle.

While the rebellious students enjoyed a delicious lunch in the Room of Requirement, the staff at the Great Hall had to make do with oatmeal and water. It was at that moment Dumbledore discovered the elves were no longer obeying him. Soon after, a large banner appeared in the centre of the Hall, with the following words: "We Hogwarts students demand: 1) the immediate abolition of the position of Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts; 2) the repeal of all newly published educational decrees; 3) the adoption of the changes agreed at the beginning of the school year in a permanent and irrevocable way; 4) the ban on pink clothes at Hogwarts."

Umbridge was beyond furious, she wanted blood! This should be her great moment, the apex of her career, to take control of Hogwarts and ensure the members of future generations knew exactly their place in the scheme of things and conformed to it. And where are her students? Very few Ravenclaws, only two Gryffindors, none from Hufflepuff!

She looked up over the students in attendance. All purebloods! How to instil in them the taste for leadership and power, when they are eating porridge and without inferiors on whom to impose their wills and desires? This way it would not work! Without finding the students to be able to punish and discipline them, her plans would fail. Where were these bastards?

 **06 / January / 1992 - Room of Requirements, just after lunch**

Harry, after a meal worthy of a gourmet, summoned his council of war, better known as the Potter's Brides Association, and allocated some responsibilities. Some of the girls were already interviewing all the students, taking their name, year and the subjects in which the students had great knowledge or serious difficulties. After all, they were in a school, and they should not neglect their studies. Hermione, Daphne, Padma and Su Li were already tabulating the results the other girls were bringing, trying to determine who could help who in what. They were in charge of finding the people who would serve as helpers to their colleagues, and setting schedules for the study of the various disciplines.

"I had an idea!" said Harry to the four organizers. "Allow two sessions of two hours each for the students of each year for an additional subject. I will direct the teachers after I can talk to them and persuade them to help."

"What's your great idea, Potter?" asked Daphne.

"Honey," said the boy, taking the blonde's hand, "if you really want to be my bride, you should be calling me Harry. Do not be so cold to me."

If looks could kill, Harry would be two-thirds dead at that moment. Only the small smile at the corner of the girl's lips would avoid his complete death with the look she addressed him. "Are you going to answer my question or not, Harry?"

How she had managed to pronounce his name as if it were a deadly curse in some ancient language, he would never understand. For the preservation of his good health, he decided not to postpone more.

"Elven magic!" He said, smiling and snapping his fingers. Immediately the book in front of him began to float a foot above the table. "No wands, no charm, no crazy theories. Just visualize what you want and have your magic achieve the desired result."

"That's why you spend so much time with them! You are learning their magic, aren't you?" asked Su.

"Partly. In fact, the elves are great friends, extremely loyal, gentle and altruistic. Few humans deserve the same compliment," he explained.

"And you're going to teach us, aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"The elves themselves can teach us all. I still have much to learn. But there will be a price for it: an oath that their magic will only be used for good. I'll ask for the exact words later, I just remember the general meaning of it. But it's nothing a person of good intentions would hesitate to agree on. "

 **06 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, mid-afternoon**

Not even the fireplaces were working to get in or out of the castle, as evidenced by a quick test. You could talk to other people, but transit was off.

More aurors arrived at Umbridge's request, but the missing pupils were still missing. Tea time had come and gone, with no tea. The only food provided is porridge, the drink is water. Are you wanting something else? Too bad!

At least the Great Inquisitor, in her immeasurable kindness, had allowed the compliant students to work on their homework, or to study their books, rather than to stare into each other's faces as they spent all morning doing.

 **06 / January / 1992 - Room of Requirements, night**

It had been a lot of work, but they reached a consensus on schedules for study and assignment of 'teachers' that did not overwhelm anyone and assured everyone their needs would be met.

There was more discussion as to who would sleep with whom, but even this was soon resolved. If some of the rooms would be mixed, it was not the right of anybody to criticize the decision of the others. However, Harry was a bit surprised to find that one of the mixed rooms was his.

"Today Sarah, Su Li and Tracy will sleep in your room. Tomorrow will be Megan, Morag and Padma. There will be a daily rotation. Do not worry, it's all organized," Hermione told him.

"I assume I have no right to an opinion?" asked Harry.

"Of course you have!" said Hermione, much to the boy's amazement, until she clarified, "Just keep it tightly hidden to yourself. Here, send this letter to Skeeter fast. We want the whole magical world to know the wonderful new Hogwarts the purists are creating as soon as possible!"

 **06 / January / 1992 - Hogwarts, guest wing on the fourth floor, night**

It was not a good day for Lucius. The Malfoy's patriarch had begun well, with a speech telling that rabble at Hogwarts exactly what he thought of the Muggle world and the claims of those brats. But since Dolores had finished her speech, everything had gone downhill.

Imagine, spending the day with only porridge and water! A man of his importance, with various matters to be dealt with at the Ministry, prevented from leaving the castle! And now the accumulation of absurdities: having to prepare his own bed! What did they want to make of him, a house elf? It was then Lucius had the idea of calling one of his elves to clean the bed, bring him a decent meal and take care of his comfort.

"Dobby!"

"Master called?" replied the battered elf upon arrival.

Lucius picked up the pile of linen and threw it at the elf, ordering: "Prepare this bed, then bring me a decent meal and good wine to accompany it. Quick, lazy creature!"

"Master gave Dobby clothes," the elf replied, fishing from the sheets and pillowcases in his hands for a pyjama's trouser. "Dobby is free. Bad master go prepare his own bed!"

Seconds later an excited elf was offering his services to an astonished boy a few stories up.

 **07 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, morning**

A sleepy commission of high personalities joined the Hogwarts teachers for another meal of porridge and water. For several reasons, none of them had been able to sleep much last night. First, the noise. It seemed a herd of hippogriffs had held a party upstairs to their rooms in the middle of the night. Second, the chilling scares. It was horrible the feeling of being almost asleep and then brutally awakened by the passage of a freezing ghost through your body. Third, a stifling, smelly breeze seemed to come out of nowhere every few minutes. Fourth, the drips of icy water. How could it be almost raining from the roof of the fourth floor in a castle with seven full floors was a mystery, but the drips were there and there was no magic within the reach of the members of the Commission capable of ending them. Fifth, the flashing light. You would close your eyes, you would feel a blinding light bathe the whole room, but it would disappear as soon as you opened your eyes. Sixth, the smoke coming in under the door whenever it was closed. Seventh, the irritating conversation. It was as if half a dozen people began to talk in some incomprehensible language as soon as you lay in bed. The hard part is that your brain didn't understand anything but kept trying to understand, which caused a terrible headache after a while.

"Dolores, my dear," said Lucius to the Great Inquisitor in his most affected tone, "Tell me you have a good idea about how to handle this situation."

Dolores had not, and was pleased with the arrival of the owls with the mail, which would allow her to avoid having to answer the question. And there it was, stamped on the front page of the Daily Prophet, the complete story of the misadventure of the Commission for the Improvement of Magic Education the previous day. They had come up with such an important sounding name, and they had such noble ideals! However, they would be a mockery in all the wizarding world.

 **18 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, morning**

Albus Dumbledore entered the Great Hall of the castle happy with the breakfast he had taken at his younger brother's pub. Aberforth was an excellent cook. It did not please the old wizard that he could not enter the kitchen of his school, but the fact Hogwarts staff could freely enter and leave the castle and were not bothered in their sleep was a blessing. It was no use changing the accommodation of the visitors to the opposite side of the castle on the sixth floor, or to the north wing of the third, or ... well, nothing had worked, the members of the Commission simply could not sleep at night and therefore past most of the morning asleep at the teachers' table in the Great Hall, sitting in their seats with their heads resting on their arms crossed on the table.

At least classes had resumed after three days of useless attempts to find the missing students. The odd thing was that all homework was being done, even by the absent students. The teachers only had to be distracted for a second and then the assignment pile would immediately increase in size, and there they were. It was a joy to the old headmaster to know his rebellious students were not falling behind in their studies.

The bigger problem was Albus needed a fierce war, and what he had found was a massacre. The popular opinion was all in favour of the rebelling students, the purist faction was already conceding defeat and, although he had not seen them since the outbreak of hostilities, he was almost certain the rebels were doing far better than the students who complied with the changes. They must have been having a good time with the situation.

Albus looked again at the students present and an idea crossed his mind. He was noticing, once again, almost no Ravenclaw and several of the Slytherins were not present. It seems as if some students were getting better meals elsewhere, which only heightened his fears about the degree of control Harry Potter had over his school.


	5. After a war, expect another war

**A/N: 1)** Again, special thanks to mab70 for his quick and excellent work beta-reading this chapter. **2)** If you liked this story, you can also try my two finished stories "Brave New World" and "The Goblet of Fire and the Young Generation Revolution" thru my profile.

 **CHAPTER 5 – After a war, expect another war**

 **22 / January / 1992 - Slytherin first-year dormitory**

Young Draco Malfoy had dreamed for years of studying at Hogwarts. It would be the beginning of his path towards fame, glory, power and wealth. Only... None of his dreams were working out. From the beginning he was ignored by the older students, only a few gave him any attention, and only after he began threatening to tell his father about everything. But that soon came to an end, along with his influence on the other firsties, which had begun so well, as soon as he came into conflict with the other celebrity ... Harry Potter.

From that moment on Draco had quickly ceased to be the king to become the court jester. Everyone began to laugh at him, to turn away and despise him. Worst of all nobody saw how Potter was a liar and treacherous, a complete farce! Potter had turned a magic duel of honour into Muggle play, and ridiculed one of the oldest magical traditions, flying on broomsticks, into a run on his own legs, as if they were not wizards! And instead of the other students seeing the scar-face's actions as cheating, they laughed!

It seemed the situation would take a positive turn when Lucius arrived at school with the Commission. It did not last long. Only until the students left the Great Hall, never to return. Seeing his father eating porridge, unable to leave the castle, was a hard lesson for the youngest of the Malfoys.

Since Draco was little, Lucius had been the model of perfection for him, and he sought to imitate his father in everything. The boy had often seen his father exert his influence in the magical world, bowing to no one, and often making others bow down to him, whether it was simply by his name and figure, or by his fame and power.

"Draco, learn this sad truth: a person alone is no one, you only have power to the extent others accept that you have power. Even Merlin would not be able to beat an army by himself."

"But, Father, you're not alone! The Commission, the Aurors..." Draco retorted.

"They obey, but against whom to fight? Where are these brats? Do you not realize how smart Potter was? He's using the Dark Lord's own methods against us! An enemy who can be anywhere at any time! An enemy we do not meet when we want to fight, but who attacks us as soon as we lower our guard, catching us by surprise, instilling constant fear, causing us to be frightened of our own shadows! Enough philosophy about power. We have more important things to do. You can clean your own clothes..."

"But Father! This is work for house-elves!" complained the blonde.

"Do you have any in your pocket to use? I've told you several times, we've lost Dobby and the Hogwarts house-elves refuse to obey us. You can wipe off the blots on your underwear with the Tergeo spell. The movement of the wand is like this..."

 **25 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, during lunch**

The Grand Inquisitor Umbridge had reached her limit. Two Gryffindors and one-third of the Slytherins were all that remained of the Hogwarts students who were still obedient to the government, the others slowly disappearing. The once-majestic Commission for the Improvement of Magical Education was in tatters and talked of giving in. But Umbridge still had a card up her sleeve. If she could not find the students to apply the necessary punishments, she would punish them exactly for their absence. This is how, as a last desperate measure, was created the...

"Educational Decree No. 33: By order of the Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts, me, Madame Dolores Umbridge, a roll call will be made next Monday, January 27, 1992, to update the register of Hogwarts students, at eight o'clock in the morning, in the Great Hall. Any student who is not present when called will be expelled from Hogwarts and forbidden to use magic throughout the territory of the United Kingdom," she concluded her little speech before sitting down with a malicious smile on her lips, and attacking her plate of porridge with an appetite not seen since her appointment to the odious honoured position of Inquisitor. She was so happy with herself she did not even notice the worried glances of the other members of the Commission.

 **January 27, 1992 - Great Hall, morning**

Minerva consulted the time again. At Umbridge's request, she had a list of all the students enrolled at Hogwarts that year. She detested the woman; from her pink clothes to her petulance, every little detail of Dolores deeply irritated the Scottish teacher. But it was clear the office of Grand Inquisitor would not last, and that appeased Minerva's mood.

The repercussions of the new educational decree began as soon as it was proclaimed. If it was already hard to survive on only porridge, heavily salty and spicy porridge was much worse. And the falls and accidents? Umbridge had spent most of the weekend in the Infirmary. The students respected Poppy's domain, but Dolores only had to put her feet out of the medical wing and she would have to be led back.

There were four falls from stairs, seven in corridors, at least a dozen unexpected cold baths, clothes changing colour and size randomly, and dozens of other minor incidents, including her chair submerging in a fetid swamp that suddenly appeared around the traumatized Inquisitor.

The rest of the Commission also received their share of punishments, though not as heavy. And all without being able to count on magic to help, since the wands of the members of the commission were transfigured into immense earthworms. Minerva was curious to know who had been the author of the feat.

Attempts to smuggle food from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts continued to fail. The staff was free to leave the castle and dine in the small village, but even they could not bring food back to Hogwarts. Everything they tried to bring was turned into sand as soon as they crossed the gates.

Minerva looked once more at the door of the Great Hall, where Umbridge was making another attempt to enter the room, only to slip out on her own butt in the opposite direction. 7:55am. What would her students do?

As if to answer her question, Minerva saw a new door appear on the side wall (the one separating the exterior of the castle!) and the missing students entered the Great Hall through the new door, and sat down in a complete mix of houses and years, at the four tables reserved for them.

Eight o'clock sharp, it being clear no member of the Commission could enter the Great Hall, Minerva got up and made the roll call, noting that everyone was present. Outside, an angry Umbridge tried to enter again, to no avail. Luckily she had been silenced, so the students were spared from hearing the rudeness the Inquisitor tried to shout at them.

Roll call completed, the disruptive students disappeared through the same door, which then vanished. As soon as the door was gone, the members of the Commission finally managed to enter the Great Hall, Umbridge still silenced but frantically shaking. Minerva tried as she could to pretend she did not understand the Inquisitor's gestures, but eventually had to undo the silencing spell on the witch. As soon as she recovered her voice, the Inquisitor launched attack.

"Educational Decree Number 34: By order of the Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts, Madame Dolores Umbridge, any student who fails to attend two consecutive classes without justification accepted by the Grand Inquisitor will be expelled from Hogwarts and forbidden to use magic throughout the United Kingdom."

Umbridge had sat down after her little speech, smirking, hoping this new decree would eventually force the students to obey. The faces of dismay and doubt the other members of the Commission displayed clearly showed they did not share the hope of success exhibited by the Inquisitor.

Approaching the start time of her first class, Minerva left the Great Hall and walked into the Transfiguration classroom, finding it full for the first time this year. This, and the next class, occurred without interruption on the part of the Commission, and Minerva returned curiously to the Great Hall to see what surprises were set for lunch. She found part of the Commission still standing in the doorway, trying to get out of the Great Hall, to no avail.

Entering smoothly, Minerva took her place at the head table. Ignoring the porridge, she just drank some water, deciding to wait for the end of the day to make the journey to Hogsmeade and enjoy Madame Rosmerta's great food. It was a good decision, as she did not miss the chance to watch Lucius Malfoy's final hissy fit.

"POTTER! ENOUGH! YOU WIN!" said Lucius shrieking, throwing his porridge onto the wall. "DELORES, YOU'RE FIRED! THE POSITION OF GRAND INQUISITOR IS ABOLISHED! POTTER, LET ME OUT OF THIS HELL!"

Lucius was able to get out of the Great Hall into the Entrance Hall, and then out of the castle, where he knelt down and began to weep and sob. The other members of the Commission quickly followed him, except for Umbridge, who stood at the door of the Great Hall, red from head to toe and trembling in rage, shouting "TRAITORS! TRAITORS!"

Getting back a little of his composure, Lucius got up and ran to the gates of Hogwarts with shouts of "FREE! FINALLY FREE!" being followed by the other members of the Commission in their rapid retreat.

In the Great Hall, on the banner hanging from the ceiling, the first item referring to the abolition of the Grand Inquisitor's office received a green check mark on the left, while the others blinked three times to remind everyone the students were not yet satisfied. Dumbledore stood up smiling and said, "With the ending of the position of Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts, I declare null and void all the educational decrees drawn up during the existence of that office."

With a shouting "THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE! YOU WILL HAVE TO OBEY ME!" Madame Umbridge left the castle, marching toward the gates, each step trampled with excessive force, to show everyone her anger and displeasure.

With this, items two and four of the banner were also marked in green, and item three blinked again. Minerva, watching Dumbledore sit quietly, tried to direct him.

"Albus," she called, nodding her head to the banner.

"Oh, yes, that third item," he said nonchalantly. "I think we'll have to talk to the students about it. I foresee our problems are not fully resolved yet."

 **27 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, night**

Minerva was not at all surprised to not seeing the rebelling students in the afternoon. She thought it was childish the way Dumbledore was trying to pretend everything was fine. Was the old mage barmy? Had he forgotten he had also been expelled from Hogwarts once and had lost his position as headmaster?

One clear sign that things were still far from normal was the meal served at dinner: roasted chicken, vegetables in butter, mashed potatoes and bread. Much better than porridge, but far short of what meals at Hogwarts had always been.

The large banner on the ceiling was even larger, the items checked smaller, but the third item blinking continuously in half-meter tall letters: '3) the adoption of the changes agreed at the beginning of the school year permanently and irrevocably.' Just Albus Dumbledore, this stubborn and annoying old man, pretending not to see it.

At the end of the meal, the headmaster stood up and announced, "As we all know, our immediate problem, namely an unwanted external interference in our school, is settled. I hope to see all the students resume their normal activities as of tomorrow. If this occurs, all excesses committed during the management of the Grand Inquisitor will be forgiven, and no punitive action will be taken. Good evening everyone."

That being said, the old wizard solemnly marched out of the Great Hall. It somewhat disturbed the solemnity he was now dressed in a pumpkin-coloured ballerina costume with purple pantyhose.

 **29 / January / 1992 - Great Hall, night**

Albus Dumbledore came to dinner in the Great Hall limping on his left leg, in a veiled wedding dress with long train, totally wet, causing the laughter of all the students, and immediately stopped. All the students! Even the rioters! All the students were there, finally. For a moment he came to think his patience had borne fruit, and he had won the confrontation with the students. But it was only for a moment, until Harry Potter got up and spoke.

"Albus Dumbledore, the joke has been fun, but it's time to end. You have two options here: accept the required changes or declare war on us that will only end when you leave Hogwarts forever."

"Mr Potter, I think ..." tried to say the headmaster.

"What you think is totally irrelevant. In fact, you'd better not even think about it, since you're usually thinking wrong. Accept the changes or get ready to leave Hogwarts."

"Mr Potter, this is my school and I will not leave it. I also do not see how you can force me to accept changes that I do not want to implement," the headmaster said, smiling at the boy he thought was bluffing.

Harry looked at the phoenix on his shoulder, which then flew to his old master. For a moment Dumbledore's smile grew more pronounced, as if the headmaster believed he was getting his pet back. This illusion only lasted until Albus realized he was standing outside the school gates and was unable to re-enter.

 **30 / January / 1992 - Gates of Hogwarts, early morning**

Dumbledore spent long hours in thought, evaluating everything that had happened since Hagrid had returned from Privet Drive with Harry Potter's letter refusing to study at Hogwarts.

The first question he pondered was whether Harry Potter would be a new Tom Riddle, paving his way to power, garnering followers among schoolchildren, tricking teachers with half-truths and a handsome little face. The first point he found against this hypothesis was that Harry did not defend tradition and purity of blood; on the contrary, it was promoting equality among students and freedom of ideas and preferences.

Did he wanted to gain power through a different path than Riddle? The new hypothesis also did not find much support in the facts. Harry was more sought out by the most powerful and influential students, than he sought for those. And yet, overall, he clearly spent much more time with first-year students as a whole than with students from more powerful families in particular.

Could it be Harry was really just a boy rebelling against being forced to do what he did not want to do? After thinking for a long time, Albus agreed, yes, that seemed to be the case. And what was worse, Harry was adapting to Hogwarts and making friendships that could lead the boy to stay, until the arrival of the Commission to bring about a new radicalization and new conflicts. And he had to admit that he had made a mistake by not giving back the changes the students had struggled so hard to get.

Would simply agreeing to the changes and letting Harry interact freely with the other students be enough to keep the boy in school? Dumbledore thought long and hard about the subject and came up with an idea that he thought could solve all the problems. Several times he had arranged for his Muggleborn students to be certified they were fit to enroll Muggle colleges. If he provided the same type of document to Harry, the boy might be encouraged by the possibility of a magical education that would not prevent the continuation of his Muggle education afterwards. He could study what he needed from Muggle disciplines through books, maybe even a private tutor, who knows, and stay at Hogwarts.

It was an interesting idea, and it might work. And if it did not work, well, it would be better to wait to fight the boy on summer vacations, to then force him to return to Hogwarts, than to start a fight now, and miss the opportunity that it was not necessary.

Finally decided, the headmaster rose from the stone where he had been sitting, summoned his magical power and granted the perks and changes requested by the students. He discovered he could now enter his beloved school again, and thought it would be a good idea to appear as little as possible in the next few days, and then resume his activities as if nothing had happened. A simple and well-known trick by all but still useful, and hopefully his reluctance to accept back the changes granted earlier this year would be quickly forgotten.

Now, having a plan for young Harry, his next big question was where and with whom was that damn philosopher's stone!

 **06 / March / 1992 - Library, early afternoon**

"Albus, where are the students? We've been through the Quidditch pitch, the Great Hall, the Hospital Wing, the communal rooms of three houses, and everything seems so empty!" Minister Fudge asked the headmaster.

"Oh, do not worry about them, Cornelius," replied Dumbledore. "With so many new extracurricular activities available, our students are busier than ever. Common rooms are more empty than before simply because we currently have students making friends in every house, and they prefer to meet in places where they can be together."

"I do not know, this whole commingling does not look good. In my time we restricted our friendships to our own house, and we were fine," Fudge commented. "In any case, I am happy to see that the school is at peace again and the children are attending classes, as it should be. Good day, Albus."

"See you later, Cornelius. We are here to serve you..." Albus said, while completing in thought '... as long as you do not ask for anything.'

Out of curiosity, Albus went through a place he preferred not to show the Minister: the interhouses space. He found some students there, but overall, throughout his walk around the school, he had seen far fewer students than the amount he knew was not in classes right now. 'Yes, they are certainly involved in extracurricular activities, but where?' He thought curiously. 'Maybe in the same place where they hid from Delores, but where would that be? And what have they been doing that they need to hide so much?'

 **18 / April / 1992 - Pizzeria Hogwarts, night**

Harry was finishing his dinner at a long table, with all his supposed brides. He still was very surprised by the idea of being 'engaged' to more than twenty girls at age 11, but there was a lot of time before they were old enough to marry, and many of them could give up by then. For the time being, everything looked fun and instructive and profitable, despite the amount of gifts to give at Christmas, Valentine's Day and individual birthdays.

Potter-branded goods' sales reached record highs as business moved to other countries and new products. Branches producing the various items of their own, such as clothing, posters, storybooks, and costume jewellery, had been created in magic schools like Beauxbatons in France, Scuola Imperial di Magia in Rome, مدرسة السحر in Saudi Arabia, 魔法學校 in China, ম্যাজিক স্কুল in India, Salem Institute of Magic in USA and Colégio Mágico São Tomé das Letras, in Brazil.

In addition to the products themselves, there was a whole range of products made by third parties who simply paid to use the image of Harry recommending their products. Harry absolutely loved to see Snape's face whenever a new batch of potion ingredients with his picture on the pack came to Hogwarts.

When the headmaster finally gave in and accepted the changes requested by the students, Harry needed a lot of skill so that things would not deteriorate quickly. There was an expressive group of the students who wanted even more changes, many of them not even pertinent to the school but to magical society in general. Another group, with many elements in common with the first, ran the risk of practically dropping out of school for fun and extracurricular activities. Harry first convinced his 'brides' how these two extreme positions could easily make them lose what they had achieved so far. With their support, little by little, and beginning with the older students, especially those who were going to take exams soon, it was possible to put some pressure on the other students to keep up a minimum amount of effort in their courses.

Fortunately, only a minority needed more than a warning to realize the danger they were in. Most students were able to take advantage of the new opportunities well without putting their grades at risk. Happy with their perks and activities, most pressed for the few still unhappy to not spoil the pleasure of the many who had their heads in the right place.

Harry's friendship with the elves was stronger than ever. One of them, named Dobby, had even become a sort of personal secretary for him, and made sure Harry had easy access to everything he needed. The boy learned a lot from them, and the more he learned, the more he doubted the value of many of his classes. The way the elves used magic was so much more natural! And the little euphoric beings were very solicitous, and answered all his questions.

Well, almost all of them. One question they never accurately answered was why a certain group of senior Slytherins went through so many serious accidents, spending days to recover in the medical ward with successive hospitalizations, who then began to flee from Harry as if he had some serious infectious disease. Well, at least those kids had stopped trying to hurt him.

 **30 / April / 1992 - Great Hall, dinner**

"Please, one moment of your attention, I have an important announcement for everyone," the headmaster told the students before starting dinner that Thursday. "As you all know, we are spending a really interesting year here at Hogwarts, full of change and news. Also we have had some disciplinary problems never seen before. In the face of all these tribulations, many people expressed their concerns about the possible decline of quality in teaching at this august school."

Avoiding looking directly at young Harry, sitting at the Ravenclaw table today, the headmaster waited a moment before moving on.

"These concerns are not limited only to our beloved realm, but have reached many other countries, and from there to a discussion in the International Confederation of Wizards, which decided to send a commission ..."

Dumbledore was interrupted by an immense surge of boos and had to wait patiently for the students to calm down. The Commission of the Ministry of Magic had irritated the students so much, and it was to be expected the mere mention of the word 'Commission' would cause some revulsion.

"I assure everyone this Commission will not attempt to interfere with the administration of the school nor enact any new educational decrees. Their role will be solely to observe and report to the International Confederation the following: what exactly were the changes made in the school, what impact did each have on the efficiency of the school in its function of educating youth, and what is the current general and academic situation of the students in relation to previous years."

After another pause, the headmaster decided to expose the students to the real importance of the International Commission.

"Be assured that although the Commission does not have the power to effect any change in Hogwarts directly, the final report to be drawn up by its members will have a strong influence on our Ministry of Magic and its Department of Education, as well as on the reputation our school has as much here on our island as in the continent. Since its founding, Hogwarts has been considered the best magic school in the world, and an example to be followed by all others. Losing this position would be disastrous for us. I strongly hope all of you will help us avoid this. As soon as we have more details, the heads of house will arrange meetings with their students so that everyone is aware of their roles during the Commission's visit, and prepared to pass on a good image to our visitors. Thank you for your attention."

 **09 / May / 1992 - Infirmary, before breakfast**

Only a madman would try to directly attack the boy-who-lived. The stories that circulated about him! They were enough to frighten even the senior students of Slytherin. An eleven-year-old kid killing an adult troll with only a sword stolen from nearby armour? What about Professor Snape? If there was anyone among the Hogwarts' teachers who the Slytherins revered, it was Severus Snape, their head of house. The man was the epitome of Slytherin, with his cold gaze, his precise and calculated gestures, his excellence in Potions and Dark Magic known to all. And Potter had completely neutralized him! An adult with long experience and power defeated and humiliated by a boy from whom he was now forbidden to approach!

That was why Marcus Flint and his friends had opted for traps instead of a direct attack. But it was already the sixth time they had finished their adventure in the Infirmary, with Potter escaping immune and they being given all the punishment and pain they planned to give the boy. Always at the crucial moment of preparation, something went terribly wrong and they suffered. It had been so the first time, when the armour Higgs was levitating dropped and fell on them injuring or cutting each of them. Or when he himself, Flint, tripped with the tray of potions in his hand, and between the explosions, the fire and the poisonous vapours, all suffered for a week in the infirmary. One disaster followed another, and there they were again. They had already missed so many classes they were beginning to fear having to repeat the year. Which, at Hogwarts, was an immense shame.

Marcus heard the door of the Infirmary opening and closing, and wondered who it might be this time. Snape again, to scold them for missing more classes? That fool, Malfoy, to mock another failed plan, as if those of his had worked any better? McGonagall with more detentions? Flint heard the visitor's hurried footsteps. Soon he would know.

"Harry! What are you doing here? I have a bunch of patients today!" said Madame Pomfrey to the approaching boy.

"These damned insects! I came to exterminate them once and for all!" Harry replied as he showed the nurse the moths that had attacked an old book he had taken from the library.

Marcus and his friends exchanged a look. They were behind screens that separated them from the rest of the medical wing, giving them privacy but allowing them to enjoy each other's company. Usually it would be a good thing, but without being able to see the book in Potter's hand, the Slytherins thought the boy was talking about them, and they were worried about the determination in the boy's voice.

"And how do you intend to do this, Harry?" asked the nurse.

"I thought I'd use a poison. Something that killed them all at once in one blow, but without damaging anything else," he replied.

"Is there any specific poison you want?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

Meanwhile, Marcus was looking at his companions. Everyone was pale, thinking their lives were in danger, and that the nurse herself would be complicit in their death.

"Oh yeah. I want it to be quickly effective. I do not want to lose my appetite by watching them shiver for hours on end. It would be more human, too, wouldn't it? Do not make them suffer more than necessary. I'll feel better this way," Harry replied to Pomfrey without knowing the effect his words were causing on the hidden Slytherins.

"Of course, you're the boy-who-lived, you have an image to preserve, don't you? Wait here while I get what you want. We can take care of this right now!" said the lively nurse.

She had barely stepped toward the cabinet where she kept the potions when she had to jump back so she would not get run over by her five patients which, running and screaming, knocking over screens and running over beds, fled the ward as if possessed. And wearing only the traditional hospital gown, leaving the entire back of their bodies uncovered. What a sight!


End file.
